Lab Safety Guidelines

1. Lab Safety Guidelines

2. Hand Sanitation is Essential • Wash your hands anytime you start cooking, change kitchen jobs, need to put on gloves, use the restroom, cough or sneeze. • Thoroughly wash hands for 20 seconds. • Dry hands with single-use paper towels.

3. Avoid Bare Hand Contact with Food • When preparing any ready-to-eat food, always use gloves to avoid bare hand contact. • Whenever possible, use a tool to prepare and transfer foods.

4. Avoid Wearing Loose Clothing • Dangling and loose sleeves can catch fire on the range. • Clothing touching food may transfer disease-causing bacteria. • Form-fitting clothing from less likely to be being soiled.

5. Remove Bulky Clothing • Remove coats and/or oversized sweatshirts and hats. • Winter outdoor attire should stay away from the lab. • Roll up long and or dangling sleeves.

6. Remove Jewelry from Hands & Arms • Jewelry can harbor disease-causing bacteria. • Parts of jewelry may fall off creating physical contamination of food being prepared.

7. Fingernails • Keep nails clean and short. • Avoid artificial nails and nail polish. • Even with careful washing, bacteria can thrive under long nails and polish can chip off into the food

8. Shoes • Wear closed-toed shoes in the foods lab. • Avoid open-toed shoes to prevent burns and cuts.

9. Always Wear an Apron When Cooking • Aprons protect food from any items on your clothing – lint, dog hair, etc. • They prevent clothing from being damaged from cooking.

10. Tie Hair Back During Labs • Hair should be tied back in a pony tail or confined in a net to prevent touching it. • Heads carry the staphylococcus aureus virus which can contaminate food and lead to food-borne illness.

11. Cupboards • Immediately close cupboard doors and drawers. • This will keep them clean inside and will prevent injuries.

12. Cooking • Keep pan handles turned inward to prevent burns. • Match pan size with burner size for more efficient cooking. • Only use pots and pans on the range. To avoid starting a fire, do not place serving bowls, recipes and towels on the stove top.

13. Equipment Use • Use equipment for its intended use. • Using a pastry blender to mash potatoes will result in burns. • Selecting kitchen towels to remove food from the oven will burn the user. • Avoid sitting on the counter top. Food is prepared there.

14. Knife Safety • Always cut slowly and with care. • Cut away from the body. • Make sure to cut with dry hands to prevent slippage • Keep distractions out of the kitchen when you are chopping. • Pay attention as you chop to prevent injury. • Any time you are chopping fruits and vegetables, chop in half first to create a flat surface. This will give you better control so the food won’t roll under the knife.

15. Before Food Preparation Clean, rinse and sanitize all counters and the sink to reduce the risk of food-borne illness.

16. In Case of Fire…. • Throw baking soda or salt on the fire. • Put the lid on a burning pan. • For grease fires, carefully vegetable oil. It will reduce the temperature of the food and the fire will die. • Remove pan from stovetop. • Use a fire extinguisher. • If fire continues to burn, call 911.

17. Small Electric Appliances • Unplug small electrical appliances after use and before cleaning. This will save energy and prevent electric shock. • Carefully read instructions for small appliances to fully understand how to use.

18. Hot Food • Use a dry oven mitt to move hot items. Heat travels rapidly through wet mitts and will burn the user. • After removing food from the oven or stove top, set it onto a hot pad or trivet.

19. Spills and Breakage • Clean up all spills immediately to prevent slipping or injury. • For broken glass, carefully sweep up glass. Dispose glass in a sealed paper bag. • Use a piece of soft bread to “blot” affected area. It will pick up the remaining glass. Carefully dispose of bread.

20. Wash Dishes with the 3 Sink Method • Left Sink – Hot Sudsy water. Wash with dish cloth. • Middle Sink – Rinse with hot water. Turn on water only when rinsing dishes • Right Sink – lukewarm water with ½ capful of bleach (sanitation) for 1 minute • Then set dishes on a clean towel to air dry or dry immediately and put away.

21. To Prevent Accidents… • Stay in your assigned work area. • Wandering in the classroom could result in crowded kitchens. • The more students in a work area, the greater the risk of injuries such as burns and cuts.

22. Remember…. You have the power to prevent accidents in the kitchen. This will keep you safe as well as the people who are served your food.

23. Resources