Creating Safe Working Environments for Your Restaurant Employees

It’s essential to have safety procedures in place, so your employees know exactly what to do in unsafe situations — what happens if glass breaks in your kitchen? What’s the clean-up procedure for spills? Should your employees be mandated to have non-slip shoes? These are the types of questions your safety policies should answer.

Make operation safety procedures a part of ongoing training for both new and current employees to ensure they’re up to date on all safety standards and hang them in the kitchen and employee common areas, so they’re always accessible.

Here are some ideas on how to keep your employees safe:

• Make sure they have the proper attire (non-slip shoes, no loose clothing, etc.)
• Place non-slip mats to prevent falls in the kitchen or other potentially slippery surfaces.
• Invest in health and safety training seminars yearly to keep your employees up-to-date on changing procedures or to remind them of what the procedures are
• Implement fire safety training and a fire suppression system (grease fires are common in kitchens, and sprinklers are not enough to control them)
• Ensure your kitchen has proper ventilation to prevent heat-related illness
• Buy proper signage for wet floors, damaged floors, and more
• Ensure employees are using the correct cleaning techniques with proper products — train your employees on how to clean different areas.

And lastly, make sure to find the right business insurance that works to protect you and your employees.