Slip Prevention in Commercial Kitchens

Commercial kitchens are food production kitchens for businesses such as hotels, cruise ships, and restaurants. Unlike your home kitchen, there are more specialized pieces of equipment such as Sous vide machines, Ice cream makers, and industrial-grade deep fryers, grills and ovens. Another important difference is that these kitchens usually have more than one person involved in the cooking and preparation of dishes. These kitchens are a beehive of activity; with people scurrying to and fro with ingredients, sauces, condiments, and plates of food. Because of this, they are places where potential “slip and fall” injuries can take place. To be able to churn out large quantities of food for the customers, there is a tendency for food service personnel to favor speed over safety at times, and this can be a dangerous thing. In the interest of safety, we at Safety Direct America would like to help you prevent slip accidents in your commercial kitchen by giving you the following tips:

  • Make sure that your cooking machines and food preparation equipment are properly maintained to avoid any leaks or spills that may cause people to slip.
  • Make sure that your kitchen is well-lighted to avoid any dark corners that may have floor surface spillage that may cause accidents.
  • Make sure that your kitchen is well-organized and that all of the ingredients, spices, and condiments are in spill-safe and tight containers.
  • Make sure that your cooking food doesn’t boil over and spill all over the floor.
  • Make sure that you and your staff cover their pots, pans, and other containers, especially when they are being carried to and from the kitchen.
  • Make sure that you don’t perform cooking procedures that may cause messes and spills near entrances and exits.
  • Make sure that you clean up messes and food spills as soon as they occur, or to place “CAUTION! WET FLOOR!” signs if they cannot be cleaned sooner.
  • Make sure that you avoid mopping floors during busy kitchen hours.
  • Use anti-slip flooring that has been tested independently for slip resistance.
  • Make sure that there are enough trash bins to avoid people leaving empty containers and wrappers on kitchen counters and surfaces, or worse, on the floor.
  • Make sure that you strictly enforce the wearing of anti-slip footwear in the kitchen.
  • Make sure that your air vents and extraction fans are in good working condition to avoid steam from condensing into slippery liquid, and to prevent grease from being deposited in your kitchen.
  • Be aware that air born cooking fats from deep fryers can remain suspended in the air for some time, depositing a layer of grease on top of your floor as it settles during the night after the floor has been cleaned by the night staff.
  • Make sure to perform slip testing on your kitchen floor to identify potential problem areas.

Safety Direct America can help you with your slip prevention needs. We can perform slip testing on your kitchen floor, and provide you with a variety of anti-slip solutions such as anti-slip tape, anti-slip floor coatings, and anti-slip floor treatments.