Article - Are There Hazards Lurking in Your Kitchen?

Whether you are young or old, senior or baby-boomer, the kitchen is the center of activity for most households. We spend a lot of time preparing meals, snacking, putting away groceries, cleaning up and eating meals. We also do a lot of socializing in the kitchen, working together, chatting and distracting one another from the task at hand. Unfortunately, forgetting an ingredient is not the most serious problem that can occur. Accidents and fires in the kitchen result in thousands of visits to hospital emergency rooms and visits from local fire departments.

While there is always the possibility of an accident, there are habits we fall into over time that increase the chances of an accident occurring. When was the last time you consciously thought about what you wear and what you have on the counter in your kitchen? In addition to your personal safety, do you need to be thinking about the safety of children or people with memory loss or a physical disability who spend time in your kitchen? The staff at Dynamic-Living.com offers the following tips and product suggestions to make your kitchen safer:

Keep the stove and stove top area tidy.

• Keep pot handles turned in so the pots with hot contents cannot be pulled or knocked off the stove. A pan holder with suction cups will keep the handle in position while you stir and you will be less likely to absent-mindedly leave the handle in the outward position.

• Built-up grease catches fire easily. Clean stove surfaces and ovens regularly.

Prevent foods from over cooking.

• Fires can start when the liquid has completely evaporated or the roast is cooking on too high a temperature. For this reason, don't leave a pan on the range top or something in the oven unattended. Remind yourself to check on your dish often using loud timers with big numbers that you can see and hear. If it is difficult for you to check on the roast, try a wireless meat thermometer to tell you when the meat is at the correct temperature.

Protect yourself from burns caused by contacting the heat source.

• Reaching over the stove could cause garments to catch fire, especially the sleeves of robes, dresses, housecoats, etc. Wear snug-fitting or short-sleeved clothing. Push your sleeves up or wrap a rubber-band at the wrist to prevent potential contact with the burner.

• Use oven mitts and aprons. They can can protect you against grease and hot liquid as well as the heat from a pan.

• Microwave ovens stay cool, but what's cooked in them can be very hot. Use pot holders when removing food from microwave ovens and watch out for steam when opening lids or the wrap on microwave dishes.

Note: Never pour water on a cooking fire. If a pan of food catches fire, carefully slide a lid over the pan and turn off your stove burner. Keep the lid on until completely cooled. If a fire starts in the oven, turn off the oven and keep the oven door closed.

Many kitchen accidents involve sharp objects. Reduce the hazard with the following:

• Organize drawers with sharp objects pointing away from you so that you don't cut yourself when reaching in for something.

• Task lighting is as important as magnification in achieving a good viewing situation. Many of us do not use enough lighting in the kitchen to be able to see what we're cutting. Your ability to decipher what you see improves when the appropriate amount of light is available. If you have low vision or even a modest loss of hand dexterity, use Cut Resistant Gloves. These special gloves are made out of a man-made fiber that a knife edge cannot penetrate.

When you are busy in the kitchen, you may not be paying attention to your physical surroundings. To prevent slips and falls:

• Remove any hazards from the floor. Remove loose carpeting or unnecessary objects on the floor of the work area. Close cabinet doors and drawers and clean up spills, wet or dry, promptly.

• Use a sturdy step ladder to reach for things. Do not step on objects that are unstable. Better yet, organize your cabinets so that what you use most is well within reach and everything else can be gathered by using a reacher.

Is the kitchen a safe place even when you are not there?

• Store all detergents, cleaning agents, bleach and other chemicals out of reach or in a locked cabinet. Specialty locks are available for locking cabinets, drawers and even refrigerators, making them inaccessible to children and people with memory loss or mental issues. You can even install localized motion detectors to let you know when someone is entering an area of the kitchen that is off-limits.

• Get in the habit of turning off appliances promptly when you are finished. Unplug and store countertop and portable appliances when they are not in use.

• Invest in loud smoke detectors, including detectors with strobe lights if you are hard of hearing. Make sure you change the batteries and test them twice a year.

Don't wait until there has been an accident and then wish you could turn back the clock to make the kitchen safer. Think about how your household lives, eats and generally greets life in the kitchen and make your kitchen a safe place to be for yourself and everyone who enters.

© Copyright 2003 Dynamic Living, Inc.
Dynamic Living Newsletter may only be redistributed in its unedited form. Written permission from the editor must be obtained to reprint or cite the information contained within this newsletter.

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