If, like us, you’re delighted Great British Bake Off is back on TV, you may have noticed that Kate Lyon, one of the contestants, is a health and safety inspector… We love a bit of health and safety chat at Ferguson Legal so here’s a little blog we prepared earlier. Dig in!
Beware the kitchen
As we constantly tell our kids – with all the ingredients, utensils and machinery, the kitchen is a pretty dangerous place to hang out. Watch out for:
- Falls it’s so easy to slip or trip on wet floors or spillages
- Big falls working at height is always a risk, be careful on ladders, stairs and platforms
- Manual handling and lifting large crates, big bags – any heavy or awkward loads
- Knives – they’re sharp.
- Machinery anything with moving parts has the potential to cause harm
- Hot things and harmful substances it’s easy to get burned or inhale cleaning fumes
- Entry into silos there’s a risk of falling in and other mechanical hazards
- Noise induced hearing loss if working near noisy machinery
- Dermatitis – if hands are wet for long periods
- Occupational asthma exposure to flour dust could cause respiratory irritation
Flour dust is actually a hazardous substance under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002. Genuine care must be taken to avoid raising clouds of dust. For examples of flour dust causing severe health issues refer to the HSE website here and here.
Great British Bake Off baking tips – legally speaking
At the risk of trying to teach a grandmother to suck eggs… or indeed being a Debbie downer… here are a few tips:
Tempting though it may be, licking the bowl or eating raw dough is a health and safety no-no. If it contains eggs and hasn’t been cooked, it’s not edible.
Those raw ingredients also dictate we must wash our hands for at least 30 seconds in warm water with soap to avoid contamination.
Clean as you go with an anti-bacterial spray on surfaces.
Put things back in the fridge – any dairy, meat or fruit left out in a warm kitchen are a health and safety risk.
As with most health and safety considerations, it’s generally common sense but we’ll be interested to see how often Kate warns her fellow contestants. As far as we’re concerned, she’s got the advantage!
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