Restaurant and Commercial Kitchen Safety

Everyday hazards of kitchen and restaurant work for cooks, dishwashers, servers and supervisors, following one invented full-service restaurant: why food service injures so many new and young workers, OSHA and state plans, federal child labor hazardous occupations orders and workers' rights, knives and cut protection, slicers, mixers and grinders with guarding and lockout, burns from fryers, ovens, steam and hot liquids, wet and greasy floors, walk-in coolers and freezers, lifting and repetitive work, cleaning and sanitizing chemicals under HazCom, dish pits, heat in the kitchen, and a first-shift orientation and kitchen safety walk.

HSE-380 12 lessons · 3 h 27 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon

Offered by HSM University · Safety Training

This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.

What you'll learn

Describe the injury profile of restaurant and kitchen work, explain why young and new workers are at higher risk, and calculate and interpret injury rates alongside leading indicators.
Explain workers' rights under the OSH Act, the duties of employers and supervisors, and the federal child labor rules for 14- and 15-year-olds and the Hazardous Occupations Orders that apply in restaurants.
Prevent knife cuts through sharp knives, stable boards, safe cutting, carrying and storage habits, and cut-resistant gloves matched to the task by their rating.
Use slicers, mixers, grinders and processors with their guards in place and control hazardous energy by unplugging or locking out before cleaning or clearing jams.
Prevent burns from fryers, ovens, steam and hot liquids, handle hot oil safely and give correct first aid for burns.
Control slips and trips on wet and greasy floors with mats, drains, cleaning routines, slip-resistant footwear and a five-step spill response.
Work safely in walk-in coolers and freezers, including inside releases, cold protection, time limits and carbon dioxide hazards from beverage systems and dry ice.
Reduce strains from lifting, carrying, repetitive work and standing using storage heights, load splitting, mechanical aids, rotation and the NIOSH lifting index.
Read HazCom labels and safety data sheets, store and use kitchen chemicals safely, never mix incompatible products, and mix sanitizer to a target strength in ppm.
Control the hazards of dish pits, garbage, the cardboard baler, used cooking oil and grease interceptors.
Assess kitchen heat with the heat index and wet bulb globe temperature, recognize heat illness and apply controls including acclimatization.
Deliver a hands-on first-shift orientation with follow-up and run a kitchen safety walk that scores findings and closes the loop.

Course content

12 lessons · 3 h 27 min total · final exam

1 Hazards in food service work 19 min · quiz
2 Rights, roles and young workers in restaurants 17 min · quiz
3 Knives and cut prevention 18 min · quiz
4 Slicers, mixers, grinders and other kitchen machines 17 min · quiz
5 Burns: fryers, ovens, steam and hot liquids 16 min · quiz
6 Wet and greasy floors 16 min · quiz
7 Walk-in coolers and freezers 16 min · quiz
8 Lifting, carrying and repetitive work 18 min · quiz
9 Cleaning and sanitizing chemicals 19 min · quiz
10 Dish pits, garbage and grease handling 16 min · quiz
11 Heat in the kitchen 18 min · quiz
12 Capstone: first-shift orientation and a kitchen safety walk 17 min · quiz
E Final exam 20 questions

Requirements

HSE-101 Workplace Safety Orientation

Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.