Food Production Workplace Safety and Environment
Food Production Workplace Safety and Environment covers hazard identification, risk assessment, fire and electrical safety, safe manual handling, chemical control, and the environmental duties of a working kitchen. Questions typically describe an incident and ask for the cause, the control, or the correct emergency response.
Core rules
- Risk assessment: identify the hazard, decide who may be harmed and how, rate the risk as likelihood × severity, apply controls, record, and review.
- Control hierarchy: eliminate, substitute, engineer (guards, ventilation, non-slip flooring), then administrative controls and finally PPE.
- Fire classes: A solids (water), B flammable liquids (foam, CO2, dry powder), C gases (dry powder), D metals (special powder), F cooking oils and fats (wet chemical). Never use water on fat or on live electrical equipment.
- Gas leak response: no switches, no naked flame, shut off at the valve, ventilate, evacuate, call the supplier.
- Manual handling: assess the load, keep it close, bend the knees, keep the back straight, and use a trolley for bulk items.
- Chemicals: keep in original labelled containers, never in drinks bottles, store below food, use the correct dose, and keep the safety data sheet available.
- Environment: segregate waste, reduce food waste in that order of priority, switch off unused equipment, use lids, and load ovens and dishwashers fully.
Worked example
A wet floor beside the fryer. Likelihood of a slip is rated 4 out of 5 and severity 3 out of 5, giving a risk score of 12 - high. Controls: dry the floor immediately, fit a non-slip mat, clear the drainage channel, place a warning sign until dry, and check the area every 15 minutes. Re-rated after controls, likelihood falls to 2 and the score to 6, which is acceptable with monitoring.
Traps that cost marks
- Throwing water on a chip-pan fire.
- Blocking fire exits or extinguishers with stock.
- Lifting a sack with a bent back because it is quicker.
- Leaving a risk assessment unrecorded or unreviewed, which for assessment purposes means it does not exist.