Catering

Risk of:

• Infections.
• Legionnaires' disease.

Possible causes:

• Exposure to contaminated water from spray nozzles.
• Handling raw meat.
• Contact with infectious patients if delivering food.

Risk of:

• Skin damage.
• Burns.
• Dermatitis.
• Allergies.
• Respiratory sensitisation.

Possible causes:

• Exposure to chemicals such as detergents, caustic or oven cleaners, soaps, chlorine based products and other cleaning agents.
• Exposure to flour enzymes or dust, or other powdered ingredients such as egg powder, spices or seasonings.
• Incompatibility of chemicals.

Risk of:

• Fire.
• Electrocution.
• Burns.

Possible causes:

• Faulty equipment.
• Overloading of sockets.
• Unsafe work practices.
• Ingress of water into equipment.

Risk of:

• Pain in back, hands or arms.
• Fatigue.

Possible causes:

• Lifting, reaching or performing repetitive motions or tasks e.g. reaching into deep sinks, chopping, washing dishes or stirring.
• Poorly designed equipment or workstations.
• Standing for long periods of time.

Risk of:

• Smoke inhalation.
• Burns.
• Death.

Possible causes:

• Poor housekeeping.
• Overloaded or badly maintained electrics.
• Improper storage of flammable materials.
• Build up of grease on equipment.
• Burning grease or fat.
• Flare ups in cooking appliances.
• Unattended deep fat fryers.

Risk of:

• Collapse.
• Illness.

Possible causes:

• High temperatures and humidity.

Risk of:

• Burns and scalds.

Possible causes:

• Contact with hot surfaces, hot equipment, cooking appliances, utensils or boiling water.

(such as dishwashers, fryers, ovens, mixers, lifts and dumb waiters etc.)

Risk of:

• Cuts.
• Burns.
• Scalds.
• Trapping.
• Entanglement.
• Electric Shock.
• Amputations.
• Entrapment.
• Crush injuries.
• Death.

Possible causes:

• Failure to maintain or service equipment.
• Lack of or overriding interlocks e.g on dumb waiters.
• Unguarded machinery such as rotating blades on mixers.
• Poor electrical connections.
• Electric equipment not suited to the environment e.g. not catering quality or equipment not suitable for wet area.
• Inadequate or lack of PPE especially when handling hot items.

Risk of:

• Back injury.
• Falls.

Possible causes:

• Lifting heavy items such as oil drums or bags of flour.
• Moving heavy food carts.
• Pushing wheeled racks.
• Poorly maintained or badly designed carts.
• Pouring heavy liquids out of heavy pots or containers.

Risk of:

• Fire.
• Explosion.
• Carbon monoxide poisoning.

Possible causes:

• Inadequate maintenance of equipment.
• Incompatible equipment.

Risk of:

• Induced tissue heating.

Possible causes:

• Exposure to microwave radiation and heat through use of microwave ovens and heat sealers.
• Poor maintenance of equipment.
• Overriding interlock systems.

Risk of:

• Collapse of racking.
• Falling items or objects.

Possible causes:

• Climbing up racking due to lack of proper access equipment.
• Exceeding the Safe Working Load (SWL) of the racking.
• Damaged racking.
• Inappropriate method of storage e.g. failing to store heavy items at lower levels.

Risk of:

• Cuts.

Possible causes:

• Broken glass or crockery.
• Inappropriate storage or use of sharp knives.
• Poor equipment design.

Risk of:

• Minor injuries such as cuts to major injuries such as broken bones, concussion and even death.

Possible causes:

• Wet or contaminated floors.
• Spills e.g. oil.
• Poor housekeeping.
• Material stored on walkways.
• Ice build up in walk in freezers.

Risk of:

• Hypothermia.
• Slips.

Possible causes:

• Lock in due to lack of operational internal opening mechanism.
• Lack of internal alarm.
• Ice build up.

Risk of:

• Dermatitis.

Possible causes:

• Contact with liquid ingredients such as oils.
• Cleaning, washing up, food preparation.

Risk of:

• Fall resulting in physical injury.

Possible causes:

• Unsuitable access equipment.
• Improper use of equipment.

For further information on related controls click here.