Food Safety!
Be safe while cooking!
First obvious step to food safety is being clean!
It is always important to wash one's hands before and after preparing meals. Microbes clinging to one's hand after a long day can easily be passed on to any foodstuffs handled. When these microbes are consumed, there runs a strong risk of various ailments such as, but not limited to, food poisoning, Cholera, or E-coli. In order to ensure your food is safe, first ensure it's creation was done in a clean environment.
Preperation Safety Tips
It is always important to observe proper safety precautions whenever cooking. Unfortunately, accidents do happen, and carelessness only increases the risk of such. Here are a few guidelines to follow whenever cooking.
Hazardous Glass
Do not try to pick up glass shards with bare hands. Sweep the shards together, and either collect them in a dustpan or vacuum the smaller pieces. Glass waste is to be disposed of in the proper receptacle. Doing this will contain the problem and minimize the risk of bodily injury.
Handling equipment safely
When using the oven, it is important to remember to pull the oven rack before removing the item, in order to prevent burns. Handles of pots are to be turned inward when placed on the stove. Always remove hot items from the oven with hot pads, never use a dish towel.
Dangers of cross contamination
In professional culinary environments such as butchers, restaurants, or bakeries, meats are always kept separate during preparation. Raw meats run a greater risk of harboring bacteria, and must be treated with care. Any commercial production of food is mandated by law to adhere to high standards of cleanliness, or face the wrath of the health inspector.
Cleaning vs. Sanitizing
Industrial dishwashers sanitize dished, this is needed due to the high use of restaurant dishes. Most at home dish washing is cleaning. Soap and water can be sufficient in a family home when washing dishes.
Fire Safety
In the event of an uncontrolled blaze, take note of the type of burn. A grease fire must be smothered, and water will only further it's progress. In any case, keep in range of a fire extinguisher, and be sure all smoke alarms are in working conditions, whilst testing said smoke alarms regularly.
Allergies
If you believe someone may be suffering from an allergic reaction to your food, contact help right away. Inform a supervisor, or call 911 immediately. Chances of permanent injury or fatality only increase as time passes.
Importance of maintaining food at proper temperature
As food spoils, the microbes populate and reproduce, risking surrounding food. If something grows spores, or is infested with maggots in a pantry, other ingredients may fall victim. It is important to keep prepared food and ingredients at ideal temperature to ensure it, or it's surroundings do not become infected.
Emergency Contacts
Of course, 911 is the go-to hotline given any extreme emergency, albeit fire, police, or ambulance, but some other numbers should be kept in consideration. Such as 1(800)222-1222 for poison control. Contact your operator and inquire as to which other numbers should be personally archived.