In many food service establishments, your team members are way more than just an employee. Our staff becomes like family. We spend a large amount of our time together and with that we naturally develop relationships as we share adventures, photos, stories of home, and of course teamwork. A big part of family, whether work family or biological family, is making sure that they are safe from harm.

However, some of the work we do exposes us to risk of injury. Burn or scald injuries account for 19% of total injuries in the restaurant industry. How do we keep our team from adding to this statistic? Consistent and repetitive training is of course very, very important -- and routine risk assessments will help you create and reinforce safety plans. These take into consideration proper foot wear, team member traffic patterns, safe “hot food” carrying procedures, first aid kits and training, fire extinguisher placement and much more.

A safety risk assessment from a trusted vendor like DayMark paired with site-specific safety plans developed by a cross-functional internal committee is the perfect base for creating a burn-free kitchen. While there are certainly a number of things to consider, your greatest tool in injury prevention is Personal Protective Equipment, commonly referred to as PPE.

DayMark Safety offers an extensive line of cut and burn protection PPE. One of our favorites is the BurnGuard® line. The easy wash QUICKLEAN™ Finish conventional mitts protect team member’s hands and forearms up to450⁰ F. What we really love about these mitts is that they keep team members safe from burns when working in an environment that consistently deals with hot liquids, steam, and grease. However, given that proper sanitation is paramount, a really close second is the mitt’s “QUICKLEAN” feature. A quick rinse or wipe of this amazing material will help prevent liquid grease and food build up, not only protecting team members from burns but also protecting your brand with the ability to assist in the prevention of cross contamination. (Further, most team members are more likely to utilize a clean mitt vs. the grimy, quilted cotton oven mitts that just won’t come clean no matter how hard we try!)

The BurnGuard Conventional Mitt comes in four sizes to fit our diverse work family’s busy hands… and the BurnGuard Apron will take that protection even further. Also available from DayMark Safety are a variety of oven mitts in traditional and puppet fit; and two lengths of Steam Gloves. We’re here to help you keep your team safe… so you can share more stories, adventures and teamwork for years to come!