The kitchen is a place where our meals are being prepared. Due to this fact it contains certain equipments, tools, and chemicals use to prepare and take care of our meals.
Most home hazards are recorded in the kitchen. But the truth is that most of these hazards are unnoticeable until they happen.
Kitchen Appliances
All appliances found in the kitchen such as sandwich makers, blenders, electric jugs, mixers and the likes should be properly handled both when in use and when not in use.
Precautions:
- Avoid placing kitchen appliances in a very high/low place to avoid one dragging the wire by mistake and causing hazards.
- Keep all appliances away from water in other to prevent electric shock. Also avoid making use of kitchen appliances while they are still plugged in.
- Keep appliances with hot surfaces such as hot plates or toasters away from children and allow to cool before packing to prevent burns and fire incidents.
Kitchen Utensils
Kitchen Utensils consists of cutleries such as fork, spoon and knife and other tools such as tin openers, turning sticks, graters, beer openers and maybe other sharp object that could obviously result in injuries if not properly placed.
Precautions:
- Arrange every utensil properly at the adequate place it is supposed to be. Avoid leaving sharp tools on the kitchen table after use.
- All blunt/rusted utensils should be changed to avoid contaminating germs which could be harmful to health.
- Avoid storing so many items in the same place. For example, utensils such as knives shouldn’t be stored in the same place with spoons.
- Keep all utensils out of the reach of children.
Kitchen Chemicals
This includes disinfectants, liquid soaps, sink wipes, bleach, insecticides, scouring powders and the likes. One could overlook these little things and therefore not regard them as hazardous agents. But reverse is the case. These chemicals too could cause certain hazards in the kitchen.
Precautions:
- Keep chemicals out of your child’s reach to avoid him/her swallowing these toxic substance.
- All kitchen chemicals should be kept at their appropriate position or cupboards. Do not keep these harmful chemicals near fresh foods.
- Most chemicals are highly flammable. Avoid keeping such close to cookers or other heat emitting equipments.
- Liquid soap if poured on the floor could make the floor a slippery one and could be a major cause of a well known hazard.
Other Safety Precautions:
- It is recommended you have a reliable first-aid kit/box in your kitchen to be able to cater for certain kitchen hazards.
- A regular clean up and arrangement is also required in order to be able to check and prevent prospective hazards.
- Avoid having distractions such as televisions, mobile phones and pets in the kitchen.
- Always maintain a hygiene in the kitchen. Keep the kitchen tidy at all times.
- Avoid placing napkins and other flammable materials near a heat emitting equipment.
- Most times, it is recommended to have your gas outside the kitchen to minimize fire incidents. Though this depends on the size of your kitchen.
Being admitted in the hospital is not just as a result of us falling sick, other hazards could also get us there. It is therefore necessary we prevent and protect ourselves from these hazards in any way we can.
