Make sure the safety of your home and loved ones is a team effort. By involving everyone in your household, you can create a fire-safe environment and reduce the chance of a kitchen fire.
- Do not leave pans unattended. Stand by your pan. Take them off the heat if you have to leave the room
- Never leave a child unattended when cooking
- When you have finished cooking, ensure your oven is turned off
- The safest way to deep fry is to use a thermostat – controlled electric deep fat fryer. The thermostat stops it from overheating
- Do not cook when tired or if you have had alcohol. Have a takeaway or cold snack instead
Good habits to reduce the risk of fire in your home
- Keep the oven, hob and grill clean. A build up of fat and grease can easily catch fire
- Never use water on, a hot oil or chip pan fire
- Check toasters are clean and placed away from curtains and kitchen roll
- Keep your microwave clean and do not put metal in it
- Keep electrical leads, tea towels and clothes away from the cooker
- Turn off electrical appliances when they are not in use
Cooking with oil
You need to be especially careful when you are deep-fat frying or cooking with oil because hot oil can catch fire easily. Make sure you:
- Don’t fill a chip pan or other deep-fat fryer more than one-third full of oil
- Use a thermostat-controlled deep-fat fryer, which will make sure the fat doesn’t get too hot
Fire safety equipment for the kitchen
You could consider keeping a fire blanket in the kitchen. Fire blankets can be used to put out a fire or wrap a person whose clothes are on fire. Don’t fit a smoke alarm in a kitchen or bathroom where it could be set off by cooking fumes or steam. If you find your smoke alarm goes off a lot accidentally, you can buy one that is fitted with a ‘hush’ button. This means you can silence it instantly so you’re not tempted to remove the battery (except to change it for a new one).
Ventilation equipment in the kitchen
Check regularly that the ventilators in your kitchen, like range hoods or fans, are working properly and are not blocked up. This is especially important if you have a gas cooker in case any leaking gas builds up.