Australia (AU $)

6 Most Common Accidents in a Kitchen

August 04, 2014

Accidents happen, and in a home the most common area for accidents is the kitchen. So when designing your modern kitchen you need to be aware of this fact.

Why do you need to be aware of it I hear you ask. Well when you are planning your new kitchen you need to consider the following common accidents. Then in your planning process you can plan to minimise the risk of these accidents occuring.

This way you will ensure:

1. That you don't have to carry hot food or dishes to far before you place them on a benchtop or counter.

2. If you are having as cooktops think about leaning across to stir a dish and you have loose clothing that may catch on fire.

3. The type of floor surface and how people move through your kitchen, ie is the kitchen a place people are going from one room to another?

So when planning your kitchen consdier these 6 most common accidents:

1. Burning Yourself While Removing Something From the Oven

This typically happens after the item has already been removed from the oven and is still scalding hot but now sitting innocuously on the counter.
While there's really no reason any person would touch something that's hovering around a couple hundred degrees, chances are, pretty much everyone has done it anyway.
From carelessly brushing the side of the oven while putting something in, to foolishly trying to move a pan that's just been taken out of the oven, there are few things that give you an embarrassed, "I can't believe I just did that" reaction like burning yourself while cooking.

2. Burning Clothes

Leaning across a burner or forgetting to put a mitten on.
As dumb as it sounds, fire related accidents are the most common ones and the ones that could cause you more harm, as well.
Avoid wearing loosely fitted clothing while cooking. Sleeves, sashes and shirt tails can get caught on knobs or catch fire.

3. Fire
Never leave a cooking pot unattended. It’s extremely easy to forget whatever you’re cooking if you’re living your life on the edge!
Work, family, life… From a small knock on the door to the telephone, if you have something cooking and you leave the kitchen, check back frequently!
Be careful how the handles of the pots are facing and that small hands can not touch them as well.

4. Slipping on Something in the Kitchen

The floor of a kitchen can be full of hazards, and way too many people end up slipping and falling.
Of all the possible ways to injure yourself while cooking, slipping on something you just spilled is easy.
One can only imagine the majority of these accidents go unreported, since there aren't a lot of people anxious to brag about their own accident.
However, between all the oils, liquids, and even flour that gets tossed around in the average kitchen there's plenty of ways to create your own little skating rink.
Even small puddles of liquid can cause you to slip and fall.
Leaving spills on counter-tops can cause cross-contamination.

5. Spilling Boiling Water

Another seemingly avoidable accident that typically comes about from just not paying close attention to what's going on.
Knocking over a pot of boiling water (or a similar hot item) is a great way to immediately ruin even the best of days.
Sometimes it's the result of a handle that was left askew, and other times it's a misplaced elbow bumping into something it shouldn't have.
Either way, spilling hot water on yourself is a clumsy accident that can do a huge amount of damage.

6. Cutting Yourself

Cutting yourself while attempting to slice food claims more fingers and palms than any other item.
Knives Are More Threatening Than They Look! Be sure to keep your knives in safe place in your counter or in your kitchen.
If you’re not a trained cook, be sure to slice slowly and in a dry enough place.
Do not lose attention and be careful of those little scares of the day! (Your phone ringing, your phone vibrating, etc…)