Restaurant and kitchen safety meeting topics

• Floors: every workroom floor kept clean and, to the extent feasible, dry; where wet processes are used, drainage and dry standing places such as mats (29 CFR 1910.22(a)(2)).
• PPE: a hazard assessment (29 CFR 1910.132(d)(1)), and hand protection when hands are exposed to hazards such as severe cuts, chemical burns and thermal burns (29 CFR 1910.138(a)).
• Chemicals: hazardous chemicals such as some degreasers and oven cleaners bring HazCom training (29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(1)). Where eyes or body may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, there must be facilities for quick drenching or flushing in the work area (29 CFR 1910.151(c)).
• Fire: where extinguishers are provided for employee use, education at hire and at least annually (29 CFR 1910.157(g)(1) and (g)(2)).
• Exits: exit routes free and unobstructed, with nothing stored in them (29 CFR 1910.37(a)(3)).

Do it at lineup, before doors open, in 5 minutes or less. One topic a day: knife handling on Monday, hot oil on Tuesday, wet floors on Wednesday. Use the station itself: show the cut glove, the fryer, the wet floor sign. New hires come first; give them the basics on day one. Record attendance with the sign-in sheet generator. Young workers may also be covered by Department of Labor child labor rules, which are outside OSHA and outside this page.

Many kitchens run in Spanish and English, plus other languages. Give lineup talks in both. Chemical labels stay in English, and you may add Spanish as long as the English is there too (29 CFR 1910.1200(f)(10)). Safety data sheets come in English, and you can keep Spanish copies as well (29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2)). Teach with the bottle in hand: what the pictogram means, which gloves to wear, where the eyewash is.

Start with restaurant kitchen safety, knife safety in the kitchen, burns and scalds, wet floors, slips, trips and falls, cleaning chemicals, chemical burns, fire extinguishers, walk-in coolers and freezers and young workers. For a year of ideas, see safety meeting topics. The talks are free; a printable talk kit is $4.99 and a full training kit with an editable PowerPoint is $9, no subscription.