Kitchen Fire Safety
Kitchen fire safety tips can keep you, your family and pets secure while frying, boiling, grilling or broiling food.
Your kitchen can be one of the most hazardous rooms in your house! According to statistics from the Home Office, nearly half of all accidental fires that start in UK households begin there.
Take a few simple precautions and be aware of your cooking fire risks to maximise safety in the kitchen. And to increase the overall security of your home.
We’ve put together our 7 top kitchen fire safety tips to keep your family safe and secure.
1. Kitchen Fire Safety – Keep flammables away from cooker and oven
The kitchen is a popular spot to cook and prepare meals for family and friends, but it also has the potential to cause fires and burn injuries. According to the Fire Protection Association, over 34% of home cooking fires were started by people leaving food on the cooker unattended – so taking steps to keep your kitchen safe should be a top priority.
Kitchen safety begins with keeping flammables away from the cooker top – this applies to everything from your hair, clothes, potholders and paper towels to food packaging and curtains.
Avoid clothing that dangles down or is long, flowing or baggy as these can catch fire when you lean over the cooker to reach something. Also, keep loose shirts and long pants tucked in or tied back with an apron.
It’s essential to keep flammable items away from your cooker top, as these can quickly catch fire. Instead, store them in a drawer or on hooks in another part of your kitchen for safety.
2. Kitchen Fire Safety – Be mindful of your oven
Maintaining the oven door closed is paramount to avoiding an oven fire.
If your oven isn’t closing completely or you hear a squeal from it, there could be an issue with its springs. As they age, these weak links may become damaged or worn; inspect them to determine if any are broken or worn.
A broken or worn oven door spring can make it difficult to close the oven door properly and may need some force in order to open or shut. In such cases, getting a specialist to fix/ replace them is a wise idea.
Additionally, it’s critical to turn off the oven if you’re going to be away.
When planning to be away for the weekend or longer, ensure you turn off your oven from the socket. Doing this saves energy and keeps your home safe from fire hazards. Most modern appliances come with timers so that you can set a schedule. Then you won’t have to worry about forgetting to put off the oven before leaving for work or play.
If your oven is outdated, consider investing in a replacement – especially if you have young children or pets that like to get into mischief in the kitchen 🙂
3. Kitchen Fire Safety – Install smoke alarms/ detectors
Smoke alarms can alert and help you and your family escape a fire before it escalates out of control, but make sure they’re installed in the right places.
The Fire Protection Association (NFPA) suggests installing one smoke alarm on each level of your home and one outside each bedroom. Furthermore, put detectors in every stairwell and long hallway to prevent smoke buildup from a burning fire.
Smoke detectors come in three varieties: ionisation, photoelectric and a combination of both. Ionisation smoke alarms use radioactive material to ionise the air, creating an electrical path that changes when smoke enters it.
These detectors are better at detecting slow-burning fires, such as those from cigarettes. They’re more sensitive than photoelectric smoke alarms which are activated quickly by sudden combustible explosions like grease fires.
If you live with a hearing impairment, you should opt for a smoke alarm that combines flashing light and sound.
Hardwired smoke alarms are an ideal choice, as they attach directly to your home’s electrical wiring and have a battery backup. Installing these requires some technical know-how but the peace of mind and security they provide in the event of a fire are well worth it.
Remember to replace the batteries in your smoke detectors periodically, even if they appear to be working perfectly. 2.5% of smoke alarm failures are due to dead batteries 🙁
4. Kitchen Fire Safety – Keep children away from the oven
Cooking together as a family can be an exciting opportunity to bond, but it also presents potential hazards. Every year in the UK, 120,000 children receive treatment for burn injuries – with over 30% of these incidents taking place in the kitchen.
Children love helping out in the kitchen, but they should always be supervised when using sharp knives and around cooker tops. To prevent accidents, match each kitchen task to their age level and ensure they understand how to do it safely.
Older children can handle peeling vegetables and taking containers out of the oven with ease. However, younger ones may not have the motor skills yet to get their hands on a hot pan and may tip over or spill boiling liquids onto themselves.
To prevent accidents around the kitchen, create a child-free zone. This should be a 3-foot safe zone around the cooker tops. This will keep your child(ren) from playing near or touching the cooker. And also help reduce the chances of them knocking things over.
Your child-free zone should be free from loose cords and wires, heating implements (like toasters, pots and pans), as well as sharp objects.
When cooking with children in the house, you want to keep your pot and pan handles turned around so they are further away. Also, use the backburners whenever possible.
You may also install buttons or knob covers on the front of your oven to help prevent accidental activation of it by your child.
To further avoid a kitchen fire, don’t let your children play with any appliances that could be hazardous, such as your washing machine, toaster, microwave or dishwasher. Devices with small parts that toddlers easily reach are best kept in a cupboard, away from their reaching hands!
Kitchens are notoriously dangerous places in households, so it’s essential to take the necessary precautions to protect your child and home from accidents. The most effective way to do this is by discussing potential dangers with them, outlining potential risks and discussing what steps can be taken to keep them secure while cooking.
5. Kitchen Fire Safety – Keep the kitchen clean and tidy
The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in any home, as it’s where food is prepared and stored for later consumption. It also serves as a hub where people gather to socialise and exchange ideas.
Unfortunately, if left unclean, the environment can quickly become dangerous.
Here are a few easy tips to keep your kitchen safe and hygienic. These include:
1. Keep Your Kitchen Organised, Label Fridge and Pantry
Keeping the kitchen tidy doesn’t just require wiping down countertops after every meal; it also means regularly cleaning utensils and other equipment like cutting boards and bowls.
Achieving a clean and tidy kitchen requires making sure everything has its proper place, which can be challenging if you don’t label the shelves beforehand. Labelling items helps make it easier to locate them when needed.
2. Organise Your Space to Improve Safety and Efficiency
It is not enough to simply wipe down countertops after each meal; organising requires planning ahead for optimal efficiency in all aspects.
A kitchen that’s messy is a recipe for accidents, so it’s important to regularly tidy kitchen surfaces. Doing this helps prevent trips and spillages which can cause fires or lead to injuries.
3. Create cleaning checklists or schedules
A daily checklist can save time and prevent messes from accumulating. It also makes it simpler to stay on track with the more gruelling jobs that need to be done regularly, like wiping down the toaster or microwave.
6. Kitchen Fire Safety – Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen
One of the best kitchen fire safety strategies is to keep a fire extinguisher handy. Mount it near appliances such as stoves and ovens, which are often where cooking fires begin.
Be sure to mount the fire extinguisher high enough so children cannot reach it, and away from any flammable materials like electrical appliances.
Make sure it’s at least 75 feet from Class A (ordinary combustibles) and 50 feet away from Class B (flammable liquids). Close enough to get to in emergencies.
When selecting an extinguisher for your kitchen, there are certain types of fires more likely to happen there than others. Oil and grease fires in particular tend to occur more frequently in kitchens than in other places.
Maintaining a fire extinguisher in the kitchen is an excellent way to help prevent fires from occurring, but you should always learn how to use it before they are needed. You can find instructions for use online or contact your local fire department for instructions.
Fire Safety in the Kitchen: Video
Never leave a fire unextinguished and make sure there is a fire extinguisher on every floor of your house – just in case.
Also, make sure your fire extinguisher is regularly inspected and maintained, so it works properly when needed. Inspect the pressure gauge to make sure it stays within safe limits, and ensure the hose and nozzle aren’t damaged.
7. Kitchen Fire Safety – Don’t attempt to extinguish a grease fire
Most cooking fires are caused by overheated grease and oil, particularly during frying, grilling and broiling. To avoid such mishaps in the kitchen, it’s important to know what steps to take when a fire starts so you can safely put it out without risking yourself or your home’s safety.
First and foremost, turn off the heat if possible. Doing this will starve the flames of oxygen and help them extinguish faster. If the fire is in a pot or pan, quickly place a metal lid over it to smother it fast.
Don’t attempt to move the pot/ pan as this could spread the oil throughout the room and worsen the fire. If the flames have spread beyond your pot, close the door and evacuate immediately – call 999 for emergency help!
Water should never be used to put out a grease fire of any type!!!
Baking soda or salt can often be enough to put out a grease fire. But if the flames are larger or you don’t have enough of either substance on hand, you may need to use a fire extinguisher – make sure that it’s one specifically designed for grease fires!
In Conclusion
Kitchens are a frequent location for fires that can prove costly in many cases. To reduce the risk of cooking fires, ensure your smoke alarms are up-to-date. Also, while cooking, keep the pot’s lid and fire blanket nearby to safely extinguish small grease blazes – should they happen!
Getting the right home insurance is essential for your peace of mind. And to ensure you don’t have to pay out of pocket for any losses you may suffer, in the event of your belongings being destroyed in a fire.
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