Safety in the workplace

Food premises workplace safety

There are always a high number of accidents happening in food premises. They may be caused by the use of blunt knives, slipping on wet floors, burns from heat or chemicals, and such like.

Do the following exist where you work? If any do you could be contravening Health and Safety at Work regulations.

• No guards on food slicers 
• Overloading of electric sockets
• Obstructed fire extinguishers and blocked fire exists
• Use of casual footwear instead of safety shoes 
• Lack of clean washable clothing 
• Faulty wiring
• No internal door handles in walk-in chill rooms
• No diffuser covers over strip lights 
• Spillages not cleared up
• Inadequate ventilation
• Poor knife storage and handling
• Tongs not used to turn food on griddles
• Inaccessible first aid boxes
• Inadequately lit food preparation areas
• Outdoor clothing stored in food rooms
• Cleaning chemical containers without lids or labels
• Brakes not applied to mobile units such as shelving or refrigerators
• Dirty and un-serviced microwave ovens resulting in microwave leakage

Remember: You and your employees have a duty to comply with the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Employees will require health and  safety training, instruction, information and supervision. 

For more information see our pages on public health training courses.