Upholding Quality Standards | Restaurant Safety Tips

Having a restaurant comes with having a lot of responsibilities. Whether you’re a restaurant owner or manager, there are various hats you may have to wear to keep the establishment running smoothly.

Some responsibilities may include hiring the right employees, coming up with a menu, or even arranging tables and seats for a memorable evening. The baseline is that there is a lot of communication, patience, and planning involved in running a restaurant efficiently. While all these tasks are a regular part of running a restaurant on any given day, there is one crucial aspect that may not be noticed or given due attention.

The safety of a restaurant is an important feature in determining the success of a restaurant. Whether it is food safety or safety related to the physical building, including emergency plans, it is essential to note the safety features employed in a restaurant. 

What Safety Features Can a Restaurant Have?

A restaurant has many different departments that work in symphony to ensure that customers have the best time eating and enjoying their day out. Hence, the first aspect of safety that restaurants may concern themselves with is their customers' physical and health safety. This may include getting a food safety license from a notable authority or ensuring that kitchen staff follows all safety and cleanliness protocols.

Moreover, restaurant safety may also entail that the area or location they operate in is also safe and friendly for all kinds of customers. Additionally, restaurants should also have an emergency exit plan for all employees and customers in case of a fire or any unforeseen incident.

Finally, like all other workplaces, restaurants should ensure that all their employees are working within the workplace safety standards by using correct tools and clothing. In addition to this, employee's and staff's occupational health and safety should also be a safety feature that restaurants should ensure. This means their health within the restaurant ground is regulated by having proper protocols and tools in place.

While all of this looks like a long list of safety guidelines that restaurants should follow, in reality, it is not that difficult to implement them. Most of these protocols are things that restaurant owners and managers initiate during the planning stage. Moreover, licenses and other important paperwork are updated from time to time.

So, how can restaurant owners and managers ensure restaurant safety? Here are some tips that they can follow to make this a hassle-free process: 

Restaurant Safety Tips

1. Employee Training

Restaurant employees should receive training in occupational health and safety. For a restaurant, it may entail tricks and techniques on how to minimise physical injury such as a back strain or knee injury because of long-standing hours. Moreover, kitchen staff needs training on working heavy kitchen supplies effectively without the threat of physical danger.

2. Correct Signs

Restaurants are busy places with all types of people coming in and going out. It is better to have correct signage which indicates what area is for employees and staff and what areas are only for customers. Moreover, signage should be hazard-free which means that it should be visible with smooth edges to minimise the chances of injury.

3. Proper Clothing

Restaurants should have proper clothing because the nature of the business demands it. Kitchen staff should have appropriate attire consisting of a hair safety net and proper name tags and designation to avoid confusion. Moreover, managers should have professional attire that is indicative of their position in the restaurant.

4. Evacuation Drills

It is good practice for any business to ensure that evacuation drills are conducted. It is even more essential for a restaurant to provide this because it involves so many people on restaurant grounds who may be untrained on what to do in case of an emergency. This is where restaurant employees and staff come in. They should receive adequate restaurant safety training on what to do in case of a fire or emergency. As such, they should also know the restaurant’s exit points and ground plan effectively.

5. Kid-friendly cutlery

Another safety feature that is not given enough importance is ensuring kid-friendliness in a restaurant. Crockery and cutlery should be such that kids do not injure themselves or others. Moreover, high chairs for children should be readily available, but restaurant owners should ensure that it maintained and safe to use.

6. Effective Ventilation

Ventilation is an integral part of the kitchen and restaurant premises. It ensures that hot and sticky air is circulating out while fresh or cool air is returning back into the kitchen or restaurant environment. Hence, ventilation makes sure that employees, kitchen staff, and customers receive proper cooling and air. While adequate ventilation is an essential legal requirement before opening up a restaurant, it is also a basic safety feature related to employees' health. Not having proper ventilation may result in heat-related health issues such as breathing problems.

7. Treating Injuries

It is no surprise that restaurants are chaotic places where the risk of a hand-cut or a slight laceration is consistently present. Even if such incidents occur after following safety protocols, the next step should concern how to deal with them. Restaurants should have an emergency supply of first aid. Moreover, it is an added benefit if someone in the team knows how to do basic bandages or wrap.

8. Getting a Food Safety License

Finally, ensuring the food safety of customers is vital to the success of the restaurant. Ideally, restaurants should have a food safety license or stamp from their local food authority, which signifies that precautions and protocols are being followed which will not affect their health adversely.