Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 11th April 2024 Issue no. 1109
Your industry news - first
The original and best - for over 20 years!
We strongly recommend viewing Cleanzine full size in your web browser. Click our masthead above to visit our website version.
Five steps to safer kitchen floors
Restaurants are a minefield for slip and fall accidents, and most of these occur in the ‘back of the house’, or the kitchen area.
According to the National Floor Safety Institute in the US, each year more than three million foodservice employees are injured as a result of slip and fall accidents. Further, it is estimated that these accidents cost the foodservice industry more than $2 billion each year, and this number is rising by 10% every year. Just imagine what the global figures must be!
Matt Morrison, marketing manager for Kaivac, developer of the OmniFlex Dispense-and-Vac system, says that there are at least five steps restaurant owners and managers can take to help reduce these staggering numbers:
1. Communicate. "Safety, the problem of slip and fall accidents, does not get the attention it needs," he says. "As soon as possible, have a safety meeting with staff and discuss how serious the slip and fall problem is in restaurants."
2. Conduct a safety audit. A safety audit looks for potential hazards that can contribute to slip and fall accidents. Are there areas of the floor that have more grease and oil build-up than others? Are there loose cords or mats that tend to curl? Are there areas where the floor is uneven? These can all cause slips and falls.
3. Analyse systems used to clean the floor. "In order to save water, more restaurants are mopping floors instead of hosing them down," says Matt. "But studies going back more than 40 years indicate mopping spreads soils and contaminants [and can] leave a film that can cause an accident. Look into water-saving floor cleaning options that do not require the use of antiquated mopping systems."
4. Ask for feedback. The people that know your kitchen floor best are the ones standing on it every day. Ask them for suggestions on how to make the floor safer.
5. Install drip-through matting. Drip-through mats allow grease and oil to drip below the walkway surface, helping to promote safety.
Kaivac offers an integrated portfolio of environmentally friendly cleaning products designed to remove the maximum amount of soil and potentially harmful biopollutants in the most cost-effective manner possible.
31st July 2014