Restaurant Safety and Hygiene Practices

This assignment focuses on the crucial aspects of safety and hygiene practices within the restaurant industry. It utilizes a comprehensive set of downloadable checklists that provide detailed guidance on various aspects, including hazard identification, control measures for preventing food contamination, and maintenance of a clean and hygienic work environment. The checklists aim to equip individuals working in restaurants with the necessary tools and knowledge to uphold high standards of safety and hygiene, ultimately contributing to a safer and healthier dining experience.

Running Head: Occupational Health and Safety
Occupational Health and Safety
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Summary
The assignment deals with the Occupational health and safety hazards attendant to the
restaurant workers in a busy and large food court. The most common hazards identified are
biological such as inhalation of kitchen fumes, the chemical such as disinfectants, mechanical
hazards such as slip, trips, and falls on wet floors, and others. In this context, the risk assessment
would be conducted using the principles of. Risk assessments include identifying the hazard,
characterisation, exposure, assessment and risk characterization. It includes risk ranking.
Applying the risk rating principle, it can be said that falls and knife injuries are highly likely than
any other kitchen activity. The interventions applying the hierarchy of hazards control include
elimination, substitution, engineer controls, administrative controls, and by using personal
protective equipment. Using the relevant checklists, the efficacy of the interventions will be
monitored.
Introduction
The aim of the assignment is to discuss the occupational health and safety hazards of
workers in chain of restaurants. The assignment is based on the personal experience as a worker
in a small restaurant in busy and big food court. The report demonstrates the understanding of
the hazard, risk and risk management. The report defines the hazards attendant to the situation. It
elaborates on the principles applied in assessing the nature and severity of risk. In this
assignment, the risk management interventions used in consideration with the hierarchy of
controls are discussed. Lastly, the report highlights monitoring of the efficacy of risk
management regime and factors that may influence the control measures.

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Hazards attendant to the situation
The hazards attended to the food service situation Verma et al. (2011) are-
1. Same level falls- may be due to slippery conditions that may cause strains and
sprains
2. Injury due to sharp objects like knives, hot cooking equipment and cold objects
3. Heavy lifting- musculoskeletal injuries, repetitive works such as carrying food on
tray, kneading dough or standing for prolonged period while cooking, collision
with food containers or forklifts
4. Electrical hazards and fire hazards due oven and gas stove
5. Exposure to noise in busy food court
6. Biological hazards- grain dust, food contamination, high level of humidity and
lack of ventilation
7. Chemical hazards- due to chemicals used in cleaning operations or for
disinfecting the food preparing areas
Elaborate on the principles of risk assessment
Risk assessment is an important component of the risk analysis. Risk assessment is the
scientifically based process and must be conducted systematically as per the ISO 31000
guidelines, which also includes the quantitative and qualitative approach (Purdy 2010). It
includes evaluation of the hazards resulting from restaurant work in food court. The risk is
assessed is by identifying the hazard, characterisation, exposure assessment and risk
characterization. Hazard characterisation is the quantitative and/or qualitative evaluation of the
nature of the risk due to chemical, biological and mechanical source of hazards in food service.

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The general type of risk assessment that can be used for this purpose is risk rating (Bullock et al.
2011). Risk rating indicates the likelihood, nature and possible severity of injury. Risk rating
refers to expressing the way in which the consequences occur and their likelihood. The likeliness
indicates the nature of the risks and its severity (Ho 2012).
I would apply the guidelines of “controlling the risks in the workplace” (Ruan et al.
2012). Based on personal observation and discussions with co-workers I would identify the
hazards. To identify hazards I would look around for chemicals, faulty equipments and kitchen
activities that are causing harm. Identification of hazards will include both long term and short
term hazards present in the workplace.
The next step would include identifying who might be harmed and how. This step may
include considering the special requirements at work and effect of kitchen activities at
workplace. Then I would evaluate the risks and decide on the precautions on intervention that
are reasonable and practical. I would record the risk assessment findings as depicted in the figure
below. The records will be shared with managers and put in place. Lastly, the risk assessment
will be reviewed and make necessary amendments in agreement with the managers. If the risk
assessment is correct, then people will be safe (Bennett et al. 2010).

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(Source: www.safety.unimelb.edu.au)
Applying the risk rating principle it can be said that the hazards that are very likely are
slips, trips, falls, and biological hazards due to food handling. It means that this risk is of severe
nature and must be addressed immediately. The hazards likely are chemical hazards, problems
due to kitchen fumes and ventilation. These hazards are less severe. Those that are moderate
likely are violence due to customers, unlikely are fires or related accidents and highly unlikely
are electricity hazards.
Risk management interventions
According to Trees (2015), the widely accepted system for any workplace to minimise
the risk or eliminate the exposure to hazards is the “Hierarchy of hazard control”. This widely
accepted system is accepted by safety organisation and is widely promoted. As per this system,
the hazard interventions for control of risk are used in decreasing effectiveness. It includes the
steps elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and personal

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protective equipment. Personal intervention includes maintaining occupational health and safety
standards as high possible.
The most effective hazard control is the elimination of risk by physical removal. In my
profession, it would involve immediate cleaning of contaminated substances or water on the
floor that may cause a slip or a fall. Keeping the pathways clean, to avoid collisions from food
containers or when laying out the process flow activities is my intervention. I would like to keep
the microwave ovens below shoulder heights and remove the table and chairs removed from
workplace. A fume hood is the other intervention for eliminating the airborne contaminants. Use
of exhaust ventilation will prevent biological hazards. Use of efficient cashier can prevent
violence with crimes at cash counter and due to hold-ups. Use of correct postures for repetitive
work is safe (Huang et al. 2012).
The second most effective hazard control method is the replacement of hazard causing
factor with the one that will not cause harm or risk (Ward et al. 2010). Workplace interventions
in this regard may include use of height adjustable trolleys to transfer heavy objectives instead of
manual handling to minimise the risk of musculoskeletal injuries. Further, stacks of cold drinks
and other boxes and crates can be kept at level that may cause less risk when they fall on ground.
I would like to replace the knives with automatic food cutters. Replace expired chemicals and
replace with chemical (disinfectants and dishwashing detergents) containing material safety
datasheet (Verma et al. 2010).
Use of engineering controls is the third method where people can be isolated from
hazards. It may include high capital cost when compared to other methods in hierarchy. Personal
interventions may include recommending the management for demarcating the transport

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passages and working areas. The authority is requested to place handrails on stairs to prevent
falls and to install fume hoods (Feng 2013).
Administrative control is the change in the way people work which may include
installation of signs, warning labels on equipment at work place and electricity rooms, training of
employees. These may not remove hazards but prevent or limit the exposure to risk (Yu et al.
2017). Personal intervention for my occupation includes training on use of fermentor,
pasteuriser, and electrical equipments for setting hot or cold conditions during food preparation.
I have requested the management for training in proper lifting techniques for heavy items in
workstation. I will place proposal to the manager to increase the workspace. Other intervention
may include use of warning sign and method of use on electrical equipments and other
instruments that need careful handling. Danger signs are used wherever necessary to alert the
employees in food court. Job rotation is the effective method to avoid repetitive work (Bradford-
Knox et al. 2016). Regular health check-up is the last resort I would use to maintain safety.
Use of personal protective equipment or PPE is the last method used for hazard control.
PPEs may include gloves, masks, and safety footwear (Verma et al. 2010). For my workplace I
would use gloves to prevent from knife cuts, anti-slip footwear to prevent falls and use mask to
prevent inhalation of dust or fumes. I have improved on personal hygiene practice such as hand
wash with alcohol or gel-based solution whenever handling food. Protective clothing is used to
prevent catching of fire. I would use ear plus in the event of excess noise (Lelieveld et al. 2016).

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Monitoring the efficacy of risk management
To monitor the efficacy of the risk management regime, I would use set of checklists as
per OHS in restaurant industry by government of Australia (Commerce.wa.gov.au. 2017) and is
briefed below -
1. Manual task safety checklist- will be used to ensure access to shelves and chest
freezers are not obstructed, and work pathway is clean (refer appendix for
checklist)
2. Slips and trips safety checklist- To check the reduction of falls and slips with
safety measures in place. This checklist ensures if the floors and ramps are free
from obstructions (refer appendix for checklist).
3. Kitchen safety checklist- to ensure safety knife and aerosol oil can handling
procedures are in place (refer appendix for checklist)
4. Emergency procedure checklist- includes checking of fire safety signs and labels
in the electrical equipment and highlighting and warning signs in place (refer
appendix for checklist).
5. Machine guarding- to evaluate the effective use of machinery as per guidelines to
ensure that the highest level of guarding that is practical is provided at workplace
(refer appendix for checklist).
Using these checklists, it is possible to monitor if there is decrease in the injuries related
to knives, collisions, slips and falls.
The factors that may hamper the control measures (Jahan 2013) are-

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 Lack of induction or training of new employees- that may lead to mishandling of
equipments
 Poor adherence to safety standards- for instance avoiding the use of PPE and
apron wherever necessary
 Lack of regular investigation and safety audits- may lead to failure to check the
poor security at work, identification of risks and early prevention
Conclusion
Health and safety risks are inevitable in any organisation or occupation. It is possible to
minimise or manage the risks of maintaining the occupational health and safety hazard standards
of Australia specific for chosen occupation. Following the hierarchy of control for risk reduction
is effective method to prevent injuries at workplace. It can be concluded from the assignment
that there is a need of carrying the risks assessment regularly in restaurants to determine the risk
associated with the identified hazards in food courts. It helps develop effective interventions.
Monitoring the efficacy of the intervention is the other important step to ensure the interventions
are successful in mitigating the risks.

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References
Bennett, J.B., Aden, C.A., Broome, K., Mitchell, K. and Rigdon, W.D., 2010. Team resilience
for young restaurant workers: research-to-practice adaptation and assessment. Journal of
Occupational Health Psychology, 15(3), p.223.
Bradford-Knox, R., Kane, K. and Neighbour, S., 2016. Approaches to Food Safety Hazard
Control and Risk Management: A Case Study of Preston City Council’s Food Safety Compliance
Strategy. International Journal of Management and Applied Research, 3(1), pp.14-29.
Bullock, J., Haddow, G. and Coppola, D.P., 2011. Introduction to homeland security: Principles
of all-hazards risk management. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Commerce.wa.gov.au. 2017. OSH in the RESTAURANT industry. [online]
www.commerce.wa.gov.au. Available at:
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/atoms/files/restaurants_2015-16.pdf
[Accessed 24 Oct. 2017].
Feng, Y., 2013. Effect of safety investments on safety performance of building projects. Safety
science, 59, pp.28-45.
Ho, D.E., 2012. Fudging the nudge: information disclosure and restaurant grading. Yale LJ, 122,
p.574.
Huang, Y.H., Verma, S.K., Chang, W.R., Courtney, T.K., Lombardi, D.A., Brennan, M.J. and
Perry, M.J., 2012. Supervisor vs. employee safety perceptions and association with future injury
in US limited-service restaurant workers. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 47, pp.45-51.

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Jahan, N., 2013. Practices and perceptions of introductory OHS education in secondary schools:
towards a conceptual framework for effective OHS education for young workers (Doctoral
dissertation).
Lelieveld, H.L., Holah, J. and Gabric, D. eds., 2016. Handbook of hygiene control in the food
industry. Woodhead Publishing.
NR, P.M., de Oliveira Matias, J.C. and dos Reis Baptista Teixeira, R., 2012. Implementation of
hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP) in a SME: Case study of a bakery. Polish
Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 62(4).
Purdy, G., 2010. ISO 31000: 2009—setting a new standard for risk management. Risk
analysis, 30(6), pp.881-886.
Ruan, J., Xue, M. and Xu, Z., 2012. Risks in the physical recovery system of waste refrigerator
cabinets and the controlling measure. Environmental science & technology, 46(24), pp.13386-
13392.
Trees, D., 2015. Hazard Identification, Assessment, and Control.
Verma, S.K., Chang, W.R., Courtney, T.K., Lombardi, D.A., Huang, Y.H., Brennan, M.J.,
Mittleman, M.A., Ware, J.H. and Perry, M.J., 2010. A prospective study of floor surface, shoes,
floor cleaning and slipping in US limited-service restaurant workers. Occupational and
environmental medicine, pp.oem-2010.
Verma, S.K., Lombardi, D.A., Chang, W.R., Courtney, T.K., Huang, Y.H., Brennan, M.J.,
Mittleman, M.A., Ware, J.H. and Perry, M.J., 2011. Rushing, distraction, walking on

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contaminated floors and risk of slipping in limited-service restaurants: a case–crossover
study. Occupational and environmental medicine, 68(8), pp.575-581.
Ward, J.A., De Castro, A.B., Tsai, J.H.C., Linker, D., Hildahl, L. and Miller, M.E., 2010. An
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Training Can Improve Food Service Employees’ Handwashing Frequencies, Duration, and
Effectiveness. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, p.1938965517704370.

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Appendix for checklists
Source: (Commerce.wa.gov.au. 2017)

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