The place of working dangerously: The importance of kitchen safety
Recently, I fielded a question regarding fire response plans for food services and got me to thinking about the importance (and challenges) of good safety practices in the kitchen.
My firm belief has always been that, for all intents and purposes, the kitchen is among the most “dangerous” locations in the hospital (when you think of pretty much all the classic safety “risks”, the kitchen has them—fire, slips, trips, cuts, chemical exposures, etc.) and also possesses among the most (if not the most) transient work forces in healthcare. Add to that the frequency of the entry-level folks being new not only to healthcare, but sometimes the working world, success really rests on the effectiveness of education, from the point of onboarding through regular department education, including the conduction of fire drills.
In poking around on the web, I came across some information provided by the Lafayette (Indiana) Fire Department relative to commercial kitchen fire safety that I think is well worth checking out for some cues in how to work with the Food & Nutrition folks to ensure the education process is all that it can be. I have noticed over the years (my wife is a big fan of cooking shows) that the celebrity chefs don’t focus as much on fire safety as they do on food safety (though I suspect Gordon Ramsey might have a few choice words if one of his restaurants had a fire). And I also know that some of the key components of fire response in a kitchen is a little counter-intuitive relative to how folks are trained in general, particularly the activation of the suppression system before one tries to use an extinguisher. I think these folks deserve a fair amount of focused support and the information contained here. It really provides you with a good road map for ensuring that your kitchen areas are as safe as they can be.
About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Greeley Company in Danvers, Mass. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is also a contributing editor for Healthcare Safety Leader. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.