Catering

A list of many of the common hazards found within the catering department in a hospital.

header-Catering.

Biological Agents

Risk of:

  • Infections.
  • Legionnaires' disease.

Possible causes:

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

 

Chemical Agents

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.

Electricity

Risk of:

  • Fire.
  • Electrocution.
  • Burns.

Possible causes:

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

 

Ergonomic Hazards

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.

 

Fire

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.

 

Heat Stress

Risk of:

  • Collapse.
  • Illness.

Possible causes:

  • High temperatures and humidity.

 

Hot Surfaces / Hot Products / Steam

Risk of:

  • Burns and scalds.

Possible causes:

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

 

Machines and Equipment

(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.

Manual Handling

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.

Natural Gas and LPG

Risk of:

  • Fire.
  • Explosion.
  • Carbon monoxide poisoning.

Possible causes:

  • Inadequate maintenance of equipment.
  • Incompatible equipment.

 

Non Ionising Radiation

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.

Racking

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.

 

Sharps

Risk of:

  • Cuts.

Possible causes:

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

 

 

Slips, Trips and Falls

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.

 

Walk in Fridges or Freezers

Risk of:

  • Hypothermia.
  • Slips.

Possible causes:

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

 

Wet Work

Risk of:

  • Dermatitis.

Possible causes:

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

Work at Height

Risk of:

  • Fall resulting in physical injury.

Possible causes:

  • Unsuitable access equipment.
  • Improper use of equipment.

 

 

Further Information

For further information on related controls click here.

Note: This is not an exhaustive list of hazards and risks.