Health and Safety in Commercial Catering
Over the past few years' legislation regarding health and safety compliance in commercial kitchens for some work situations has changed dramatically. The HSE objective of improved record keeping and the imposition of a formal duty to risk assess work processes will effectively mean that ensuring competence, delivering training or appointing positive third party assistance has never been more important. However many observers might also make the wrong assumption that these new changes mean that kitchens have been inherently unsafe in the past and that the new regulations will dramatically change this current state of affairs overnight. As we all know changing working regulations and different safe working priorities will take some time to be widely accepted in the any industry but the transitional arrangements are fast running out and the need for current work procedures and food service equipment to comply is greater than ever before. The changeover from in-house management to out sourcing or hiring in self-employed kitchen staff has also brought new challenges that question the old tried and tested catering procurement methods. Now the lean nature of business processes resulting with fewer work supervisors in contrast to the probable over manning of the past can sometimes give the false impression that things were better and safer in bygone days. Burns, slips, trips, falls and food poisoning still happened in the past but the reporting procedures were maybe not as efficient or auditable in some locations. I believe that there were definitely was more maintenance engineers and managers in the past but keeping a team of standby persons or engineers just in case something went wrong was always going to be beyond the budget of most modern catering enterprises. To strike a happy balance we all need to understand our proper work tasks and pay greater attention individually to what is a real safe system of work, we can no longer rely on the old manager who might have worked in the kitchen for many years to police the safe systems of work for our benefit. The challenge therefore in the future will be to ensure that a happy risk free working environment is created that is neither over the top with health and safety but is equally caring to every catering related work operative who understand that their actions could risk someone's life or health when things go wrong.
The other interesting perspective to note is that today a kitchen porter can be just as effective and responsible for regulating safe systems of work within the terms of the latest H&S regulation as can a catering manager they both even have very strict legal duties to perform to prioritize safe practices. However if they do not happen to act in concert to ensure a risk free workplace for all concerned in a workplace that will include visitors, then the employer or the person directing the catering enterprise might be considered negligent by default if things go wrong. If proper formal safety procedures have not been agreed or suitable and sufficient training has not been offered to all of the work operatives an owner could be considered liable in abstention for an accidental or unforeseen occurrence. If a claim is pressed by an aggrieved person the audit trail of training, risk assessment records and formal safety policy might be the only defence for a company if proper supervision and goodwill does not truly exist in the catering establishment workplace.
Some of the major changes to the current crop of regulations are the imposition of a strict legal duty to carry out regular safety inspections and risk assessments and to record them and archive the results of the formal inspections in a manner acceptable to the HSE.
Competent persons should be appointed in the workplace who understand the nature and operation of the food preparation equipment and also the service provision and a class of acceptable persons should also carry out the risk review or inspections exclusively if third party appointments area made.
For instance a gas fitter who would normally install central heating would not ordinarily understand the safe working features of a gas fired fat fryer even though he might be CORGI registered. This would obviously disbar that person from being able to offer a sensible judgment to a client and furthermore to carry out a proper kitchen compliance check for a catering enterprise owner or operator with no technical expertise.
In my experience most catering operatives can tell if equipment is not functioning well from a cooking point of view. But if the ventilation canopy is working efficiently would they always know if there was a slight gas leak behind the cooking suite? Gas leaks behind cooking suites can be a dangerous fire hazard and can often explode and burn down all types of catering establishment. Do all cooks or managers know what is the proper kind of flexible gas hose that should be fitted to mobile equipment and what properly constitutes an emergency shut off valve? Too often flexible rubber gas connection tubes are used in kitchens in error because they are cheaper than the appropriate heavy-duty connection hose and only competent and knowledgeable persons can spot these type of technical deviations. Emergency shut off valves for electric and gas should be always be "fool proof" and not placed behind freezers or sacks of dry goods. In busy kitchens keeping all store areas clear can be a major problem and it easy to obscure safety shut off devices. Problem spotting and audits of the workplace are time consuming but are very important to prove good intent to skeptical observers if questions are posed retrospectively by safety inspectors.
Health and Safety procedures in the kitchen workplace is also very intertwined with food hygiene and if you have managed to keep the EHO satisfied then you feel justifiably happy. To carry out further risk assessments of the workplace and maybe also consider fire prevention issues can sometimes be daunting and can be easily forgotten. However given that all safety provisions and procedures are the owners or employers responsibility it is very imprudent not to allow that little extra budget allowance or work time to make a full appraisal of your work place. After all how will you measure past and future performance without any formal records? The life span of most catering, service equipment and interior surfaces is very long term so by regular consideration and inspection you should be able to factor any future improvements into the long term capital expenditure budget without too much pain and agony.
The new health and safety regulations certainly do make the employer or the owner-director much more accountable for their own and employees actions in the workplace. The old list of "do's and don'ts" from the gas company or the electricity supply company are not offered now automatically to the duty holder to help you make informed or even forced decisions. It is now up to the individual duty holder to risk assesses their work environment to establish what could be considered a safe system of work. This can be a daunting prospect or forced activity for someone who has no actual experience or training in risk assessment, even engaging realistic competent persons who are trustworthy to inspect your equipment and workplace can prove tricky.
Consultancies like ours often can be hired for reasonable rates to carry out third party inspections and risk assessments for one off projects or when a third party survey is called for but the fairest long term aim for any enterprise is to be self regulating and confident that they own their own workplace safety systems.
Remember that any commercial catering enterprise if it employs mare than 5 persons including the directors and managers should have a formal safety policy, procedure and arrangements document or manual. When a business enterprise finally gets of the ground or has been in operation for a significant amount of time it is the legal duty of the management team to look at the safe systems of work that operate in the kitchen or food service area to ensure that there are no persons at risk. Once again our consultancy can provide the core of a safety policy, arrangements and procedure manual but the business undertaking will have the responsibility to ensure that the document is kept up to date and fresh. An old policy is like anything that has aged, it may be interesting historically but not as relevant to a developing business enterprise. As your enterprise develops so should your policies and training outcomes. Arrangements and procedures should also develop organically from within to ensure and fully endorse good risk reduction disciplines.
This all embracing word risk we relate to generally springs from the practical work undertaking analysis but the risk of ill health and accidents can involve many various and overlapping issues that need to be regularly clarified, considered and assessed. Do not be too narrow in your vision or geography when you carry out any kind of safety inspection or safety audit in the workplace. Certain priorities may need to be adjusted and external influences may be a factor to consider in your risk assessments only then can you be sure that issues such as manual handling, dust suppression hygiene have all been given equal weighting.
All of this accumulation of these disparate considerations, written guidance and safe working procedures should ultimately be noted and endorsed in the written formal safety policy of the given enterprise. The approach to first-aid, fire prevention in the work area and safe operation of the kitchen equipment should all be a matter of formal safety policy that is fully understood and circulated to the staff. Too often directors or employers copy generic policy and procedures that may not relate to the specific kitchen or work area in question, they then try to apply the same document to all work sites to save money and print cost. This is a perverse choice given the low cost of computer-generated documentation now. The safe working procedures and parameters of a school or commercial restaurant might not differ much, but remember that school kitchens shut down for six weeks in the summer unlike commercial kitchens. So for instance if a gas leak is undetected before the summer holidays in a school kitchen the gas can build up and explode if there is a pilot accidentally left alight for the summer holidays. The final effect can be disastrous for all concerned.
It is therefore vital that as a good practice company or as an ethical owner you set sensible, workable, simple and practical safe systems of work and set the written policy for all the associated kitchen activities. This will be an important defence document if you have to defend your former actions and methods to a court or make a successful claim from an insurance company in the event of an unforeseen incident..
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment (PUWER) and The Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations have also brought forward many redefined ideas on safety management in any workplace. In the past it was safe to assume that most catering operatives did not change jobs or locations too often, however outsourcing and agency labour patterns have changed this old scenario. With less supervision available in the catering workplace it is vital that work equipment like slicers, mixers and moving preparation equipment are not only PAT Tested but have guards fitted and fail safe switch off systems. Cooking Ranges, Fryers, Combi-Ovens and other high production use items need regular pro-active maintenance programs instituted that are not just applied when something breaks down but are part of a properly defined safe working strategy. The law generally calls for regular and recorded inspection procedure of electrical supply systems; the Gas Regulations call for soundness testing but common sense should tell you that old poorly maintained equipment might be inherently unsafe and ready for replacement. Inspection and certification of all gas and electric consuming equipment and even fridges should be logged too ensure and record that at the time of testing they were operating safely and efficiently. We all know that most business undertakings do not have dedicated in house catering engineers so appointing and instructing third party service engineers might be your only choice but please do not leave to chance decisions that might effect the long term viability of the enterprise.
Manual handling training, guidance and safe working methods should always be employed in the catering workplace in ideal circumstances. However if foot protection is not offered or issued the training could be in vain and also getting staff to comply with your suggestions may also prove troublesome without a coherent strategy from top to bottom of the management structure. Standard setting and performance measuring to some might be buzz words but to well regulated company they are benchmarking descriptions.
Also you should be aware that the law now imposes a strict duty on the procuring client to ensure that the person or company you direct to carry out any service or safety compliance work is trained and competent to fulfill the task in hand. There are large financial and personal penalties for non-compliance to these performance related regulations and accepted best practice and it may not just be a financial related problem that creates a problem in your workplace. Ignoring paperwork and not listening to your own common sense might make the difference between someone being killed or injured and cultivating a compliant and well-regulated work environment.
By and large in today's hyperactive working environment we can no longer hide behind a screen of false ignorance, it is essential that your safety policy and working procedure statements and the formally recorded endorsements are always prosecuted actively and effectively and also carried out by trained and competent persons. Our government may have repealed the old regulations and red tape but by slightly reordering the priorities of the law and putting the emphasis on workplace risk assessment has changed some orthodox safety management considerations. In the long-term proper safety regulation will represent a greater imposition on the individual to make the right decisions but will force a potentially negligent person to think twice about safety.
In conclusion and in general, we all in our own small way should know what is a healthy and safe working system, but some situations may be too complex and might need professional assessment. But if you put your head in the sand and assume everything is all right and your problems will disappear by ignoring them, sooner rather than later your worst fears might manifest themselves. Defending past actions or omissions retrospectively is probably the most difficult act to portray honestly, most especially when your omissions may have resulted in injury to a person by default or by alleged design. The financial ramifications can be cataclysmic, business can be bankrupted and you may even call into question your own self worth. Why not choose caution and consideration over omission and if you are still unsure or do not feel competent to decide the route of compliance consult a helpful third party. Any business undertaking can be self-regulating but make sure you are regulating your enterprise using the correct regulations and accepted best practice and not what you heard as "Chinese whispers" in the industry exhibition halls or public meeting venues.
Written by Neal Etchells
- Senior Partner
- Professional Health and Safety Consultants
- Specializing in Catering Work Area Risk Assessments
- Gas and Electrical Inspection Engineer
- 30 years Experience of Engineering Related Work in The Food Service industry
- Member of IOSH and IIRSM
- Member of CORGI
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