CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF DANGERS IN THE AREA OF FOOD PREPARATION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Occupational dangers pose a significant threat to an active workforce. Fricidences such as back discomfort, contact dermatitis, shoulder and wrist fractures, cuts, and burns are some of the occupational illnesses and injuries that workers experience. The afflicted employees lose valuable work hours, and in extreme circumstances, they may suffer lifelong impairment or die. People from all walks of life endure or have encountered some type of risk (Alabelewe 2022).

The issue is no different in the hotel business, where human labour is necessary for the majority of tasks. The kitchen, in particular, is deemed the most hazardous work environment due to its hazardous working conditions, long hours, and lack of rest breaks (Atsumbe, Ohize, Abutu, Amine 2021).

There are a variety of sizes and types of catering operations. Most establishments are ill-equipped to produce as much as necessary to meet consumer demand. The push for high-volume service operations in most systems has compounded the hazardous nature of duties, as employees are required to use dangerous equipment during high customer turnover (Eroke 2021).

Other elements, including as the physical environment, insufficient lighting, ventilation, kitchen layout, and workflow, impact the occurrence of hazards. In the study of dangers, it has also been discovered that human variables have a role.

Loss of concentration, hurry, sloppy operating procedures, and failure to follow user instructions all contribute to the occurrence of dangers. There is also the concern of inadequate cleanliness, which can lead to food safety issues and a dangerous workforce (Alabelewe 2022).

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974, businesses are required to offer safety and welfare amenities that make the workplace safe and healthy for their employees. It is necessary to conduct assessments of hazardous operational locations in order to eliminate, decrease, and regulate the severity and frequency of these risks. Other regulations detailing safety criteria in certain sectors, such as pricing and first aid, have been enhanced and mandated (Atsumbe, Ohize, Abutu, Amine 2021).

Within the scope of this study, attempts will be made to objectively analyse the causes and prevention of these dangers. Health and safety, kitchen planning and layout, work flow, and other safety measures that can decrease dangers will be discussed (Eroke 2021).

FOOD PREPARATION AREA

The food preparation area can be defined as where raw food partly or wholly processed food and hygienically preserved for customers consumption.

The food preparation area has had interesting history from when kitchen were just a part of the house and coding experiences then were better imagined than experience. The sheer discomfort of having to cook in an enclosed part of the hour with smoke in one’s eyes, spillages on the floor and the poorly planned layout of all save early cooks quite a lot of discomfort to contend with. The issue of health and safety of the cook or the food were hardly prominent item.

However, with development and progress in technology, health hazards in the kitchen became important issues especially for companies that were more interested in quality service delivery through a health conscious workforce. It is believed that the legendary French cook Auguste Escoffier popularized health and safety in the kitchen throughout the world from the late 17th century in the hotels and restaurants where he worked. It was who created the kitchen bridgade system and pioneered major charges in the kitchen ranging from hygiene (kitchen, food and personal) to safety this partnership with Cesar Ritz built up a reputations of safety and comfort for guests who stayed at the savory and the Ritz hotels throughout the world.

Thoroughly planned kitchen have today become the trend both an individual and commercial residences which has further enhanced food preparation activities. However, it is not enough to have beautifully designed kitchen but also to have health conscious employees who take pride in their jobs and as such carryout their work with utmost care.

Health hazards within the food preparation area are still common place and the health and safety executive show statistics that indicate that health hazards ranging from food safety to staff safety are still on the increase food brone illnesses from food contamination has a devastating effect on the business and every employer would want to prevent any foods safety incident that could cause the closure of the business or the deaths of a customer.

Health and safety policies should be pivotal to the business operation and a continuous exercise aimed at reversing the hazards inherent in the operation. Hazards prone areas that should be treated with care include the work surface of the preparation area, equipments used for preparation and food handling practise. Other areas of consideration should also be the lighting, ventilation and drainage as well as waste disposal in the kitchen.

PLANNING AND LAYOUT

The planning and layout of a food preparation depends on the type of operation. Hotel kitchens tend to be layer and more organised with the partie system, fast-food outlets like quick service restaurants and pubs tend to have smaller kitchen but with lightly sophisticated equipment for quick cooking and high dependence on convenience foods.

However, whatever the scope of operation a properly planned preparation area can contribute significantly to good food hygiene and prevention of health hazards. A well planned kitchen inbines a sense of pride with the staff which reflects in the entire kitchen operation.

Adequate work space should be provided for each process and effort must be made to separate dirty and clean processes. Vegetable preparation and washing areas should be separate from the actual food preparation and service areas. The layout must ensure a continuous work flow in one direction in order that cross-over of foods and any cross-contamination is avoided. Gossip of each workers path by staff should not be more than is absolutely necessary.