Restaurant Risk Assessment (UK)

A restaurant kitchen is one of the higher risk small business environments, with heat, blades, wet floors and long hours, and front of house has its own hazards. This guide covers how to assess a restaurant, kitchen and all.

Kitchen hazards

1. Burns and scalds from ovens, fryers, hot oil, steam and hot surfaces.
2. Cuts from knives, slicers and glass.
3. Slips on wet or greasy floors, the most common kitchen injury.
4. Fire, especially from cooking oils and extraction systems.
5. Manual handling of deliveries and heavy pans.
6. Hazardous cleaning chemicals, a COSHH matter.

Front of house

Slips and trips, manual handling, hot plates, and the safety of lone staff opening up or closing late all need covering, along with the comfort and safety of customers.

Food safety is separate

This assessment covers health and safety. Food hygiene is governed separately under food safety law and your food safety management system, usually based on the Safer Food Better Business approach. Keep the two clearly apart but make sure both are done.

Fire

Cooking oil fires and extraction grease are a particular restaurant risk, so the fire risk assessment matters, see our fire risk assessment guide.

Record it

Record the kitchen and front of house hazards and controls. Our risk assessment template gives you the form, and our risk assessment examples show the detail expected.