Kitchen Safety – Cuts and Burns

Cuts
Using a dull knife or holding a knife improperly when cutting can result in a kitchen accident. While you may think a dull knife has the potential for less danger, it can end up resulting in an accident if you have to exert extra pressure on it while cutting. The knife can slip and pierce your skin. If you cut towards yourself, instead of angling the knife away when cutting food, you also take the risk of driving the knife into your skin. Knives that fall can cut you if you try to catch them or they fall on your leg or foot.

Knife safety is a very important in kitchen safety, and being aware of the dangers of knives can reduce the amount of injuries sustained while preparing food. Knives that are sharper than expected often cause injury to kitchen staff, and a great deal of care should be taken when using them. Maintaining knives’ sharpness can help reduce injuries by keeping them consistently sharp. Sharp knives also require less pressure to cut and reduce the amount of accidents from slippage.

Burns
Burns can occur from a variety of sources. An unattended pot of boiling water can be pulled down onto an unsuspecting child causing serious burns. A pan of oil that gets too hot can ignite and cause burns to the person who tries to put it out or set the kitchen on fire. Loose clothing can dangle into flames from gas burners and ignite. Putting frozen food into a hot fryer full of oil can result in the oil bubbling up onto your hand and arm. Handles of pots and pans can become heated by the burner underneath them, and an unprotected hand can suffer burns.

Always use heat protectors such as oven mitts, potholders or towels when handling items that contain hot substances. Never use a heat protector that is damp or wet as they can cause severe steam burns when touching a heated surface. If you do happen to burn yourself while in the kitchen, run cool water over the burn and contact a health professional.

 
Family owned and operated, Kitchen Land provides experts to service all of your custom kitchen installation needs , and includes some of the GTA’s best plumbers, electricians and hardwood flooring installation professionals. Located at 1075 Queensway East, #14 Mississauga, Ontario L4Y 4C8, we can be contacted at 905-848-8509 or 1-877-678-8509 for state-of-the-art custom kitchen installation and renovation.