Priorities for health and safety in catering activities

Catering Sheet No 2 CONTENTS

Introduction

This information sheet has been produced by the Health and Safety in Catering Industry Liaison Committee consisting of trade and professional associations, unions and enforcement authorities. It is intended that it will be reproduced through member associations and other avenues to reach catering establishments.

Summary

This information sheet uses analysis of accidents reported to HSE and local authorities and HSE investigations to point employers, employees and inspectors to the situations and equipment in catering activities to concentrate on. Past experience shows that these give the most significant risks in catering in practice. These situations in particular should be carefully assessed to ensure appropriate precautions are, and remain, in place. Appropriate precautions will often be self-evident once the risky situations are highlighted, but further guidance on many topics is available (see References).

The main causes of injury

Table 1 sets out, in descending order of relative priority, the causes of accidents, together with further indications of the sort of situations and equipment involved, derived from further analysis of reports and investigations by HSE.

Inspection of catering activities

The checklist on page 3, while not entirely comprehensive, covers the main accident producing situations to assess.

Scope of this guidance

This guidance, which has been drawn from reports of accidents to HSE and local authorities, does not cover the causes of ill health. However experience suggests the ill health priorities for catering are likely to be:

  • chronic ill health effects from manual handling;
  • dermatitis;
  • Work Related Upper Limb Disorders (eg RSI).

The analysis was confined to injuries reported while the person was engaged in catering activities, ie preparation of meals etc. It therefore excludes other activities that can take place in establishments where catering is done, but it captures catering activities in premises where the main activity is other than meal preparation. In practice, around half the reports relate to HSE enforced premises (chiefly institutional catering, eg in hospitals, schools etc) and half to local authority enforced premises (hotels, clubs, restaurants etc).

Once an allowance has been made for the even lower levels of reporting from the service sector than for the manufacturing sector it appears that the overall incidence rate (ie number of injuries reported per 100 000 employed) in catering is around the same as that in general manufacturing, ie factories. Thus catering is probably not as safe as is often assumed and there is cause for concern and a need for action to improve - especially on the main priorities identified here.

Table 1
Cause Relative importance Significant factors
1 Slips and trips 30% of all reported injuries, but 75% of all major injuries 88% (of those where the cause was specified) were from slippery floors - around a third of these from leakage and spillage of contamination onto the floor (including carrying vessels without a secure cover) and spillages not cleared up, a further third from wet cleaning methods, chiefly not drying the floor afterwards. Around 7% of all reports were trips, eg due to objects (buckets etc) left in walkways and uneven floor surfaces.
2 Handling 29% Around a third of these were caused from lifting heavy objects such as pans, trays, packs, tables, a third were from handling sharp objects such as exposed blades during cleaning and a third from awkward lifts such as out of low ovens or off high positions.
3 Exposure (to hazardous substances, hot surfaces and steam) 16%

At least 61% of these are from splashes, 13% are from hot objects. Analysis of investigations shows:

  • poor maintenance was implicated in 28% of the cases investigated;
  • steam escape from ovens, steamers etc was involved in 23%;
  • carrying hot liquids etc in 16%;
  • use of cleaning materials without safe systems of work 14%;
  • cleaning of fat fryers in 14%;
  • equipment failure in 12%
  • horseplay in 4%;
  • hot surfaces in 1%.

(Note: these allocations are not mutually exclusive).
4 Struck by moving articles, including hand tools 10%

Reports suggest that around a third of these are from hand tools (most probably hand knives), a quarter from falling articles and a tenth from assault. Of those investigated:

  • horseplay was involved in 23% of cases;
  • falling goods in storage and unloading was involved in 23% of cases;
  • falling and toppling equipment was involved in 30% of cases.
5 Walking into objects 4% in three-quarters of these cases this involved walking into fixed objects, as opposed to movable ones.
6 Machinery 3%

Investigations showed these to be the main machines involved in accidents:

  • slicers - 30% -
  • Note:could be up to 70% of all machinery accidents reported);
  • planetary mixers - 16%;
  • vegetable cutting machines - 9%;
  • catering attachments - 10% (vegetable slicing, mincing and grating attachments);
  • pie and tart machines - 4%;
  • others - 2% (dough mixer, doughnut maker, depositor, dough moulder, mincing machine, dish washer).
7 Falls 1.8% (but the second most significant cause of major injuries after slips) Three-quarters of these were falls of a low height, a quarter of the total (but half of the major injuries) occurred on stairs.
8 Fire and explosion 1.6% Around 80% of those investigated occurred during manually igniting gas-fired appliances, chiefly ovens.
9 Electric shock 0.5% Of these cases investigated:
  1. 50% indicated the equipment integrity did not survive the conditions of usage over time;
  2. trolleys were involved in 25%;
  3. unsafe systems of work for switching and unplugging were involved in 25% (three-quarters of these involving wet conditions);
  4. poor maintenance was involved in at least 25%.
10 Transport 0.3% Half the reports involved lift trucks.
Checklist of the main risks and precautionary and preventive measures in catering activities for local assessment
1 Slips - measures to avoid spillage and leakage onto floor - measures to clear up spillages and dry floor immediately - cleaning when catering is not in progress - drying wet floors after wet cleaning
2 Trips - no obstacles in walkways - no uneven floorways
3 Handling - exposed edges of blades securely covered during cleaning - avoiding lifting items which are too heavy (eg pans, trays, packages, furniture) - avoiding of lifts which involve reaching up too high or too low
4 Exposure to splashes, steam and chemicals - good maintenance of steam equipment and devices - avoidance of carrying hot liquids and materials if there is a risk of spillage/splash - safe procedures and training and supervision for opening steam oven etc doors - safe systems of work, training and supervision in the use and storage of cleaning substances - safe procedures for cleaning and draining fat fryers - avoiding horseplay
5 Struck by articles (including hand tools) - safe selection, training and supervision in the use of hand knives - secure accessible storage for materials - appropriate methods of handling goods and unloading vehicles etc - secure equipment so it cannot topple - training and awareness in placing articles so they do not topple when placed on work surfaces - avoiding horseplay
6 Walking into (chiefly fixed objects) - avoiding crowded conditions
7 Machinery - ensure machinery is properly guarded, especially food slicers, planetary mixers, vegetable cutting machines and catering attachments
8 Falls - check condition of stairways - avoid need to stand on objects to reach articles
9 Fire and explosion - ensure gas-fired equipment is fitted with flame failure devices so far as reasonably practicable - institute safe systems of work, training and supervision over lighting procedures - clean fat deposits off vents and ductwork etc
10 Electric Shock - examine particularly electric heated trolleys - ensure equipment does not have to be plugged/unplugged with wet hands and that sockets will not get wet - maintain, examine and test electrical apparatus and try to identify deterioration in insulation
11 Transport - safe use of lift trucks
References

HSE guidance literature applicable to catering

  • Health and safety in kitchens and food preparation areas
    • HS(G)55 1990 ISBN 0 11 885427 5
  • Catering safety: food preparation machinery HS(G)35 1987 ISBN 0 11 883910 1
  • Pie and tart machines HS(G)31 1986 ISBN 0 11 88389 1
  • Safety in meat preparation: guidance for butchers HS(G)45 1988 ISBN 0 11 885461 5
  • Manual handling: Solutions you can handle HS(G)115 1994 ISBN 0 7176 0693 7
  • Manual handling in drinks delivery 1994 ISBN 0 7176 0731 3
  • Essentials of health and safety at work

1994 ISBN 0 7176 0716 X Other guidance to be produced by the Health and Safety in Catering Industries Liaison Committee and published by HSE in this series:

  • Food Sheet No 1: Safety pays in the catering industry
    • (the first information sheet about catering)
  • Catering Sheet No 2: Priorities for health and safety in catering activities
  • Catering Sheet No 3: Precautions at manually ignited gas-fired catering equipment
  • Catering Sheet No 4: Managing health and safety pays in the catering industry
  • Catering Sheet No 5: Health and safety training pays in the catering industry. Guidance for owners and managers
  • Catering Sheet No 6: Slips and trips. Summary guidance for the catering industry
  • Catering Sheet No 7: An index of health and safety guidance for the catering industry
  • Catering Sheet No 8:Managing health and safety of catering equipment and workplaces
  • Catering Sheet No 9: Planning for health and safety when selecting and using catering equipment and workplaces

HSE priced and free publications are available by mail order from: HSE Books PO Box 1999 Sudbury Suffolk CO10 6FS Tel: 01787 881165 Fax: 01787 313995 HSE priced publications are also available from good booksellers For other enquiries ring HSE's InfoLine Tel: 0541 545500 or write to HSE's Information Centre, Broad Lane, Sheffield S3 7HQ

This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the guidance is not compulsory and you are free to take other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance as illustrating good practice.

This publication may be freely reproduced, except for advertising, endorsement or commercial purposes. The information it contains is current at 2/95. Please acknowledge the source as HSE. Printed and published by the Health and Safety Executive 5/97 CAIS2

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