Hotel kitchen fryer fire

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Moral: the agency cook suffered serious burns to his face and hands, and no organisation should cause that kind of pain and disability.
• Moral: a safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental right recognised by the ILO.
• Moral: the worker was young, on his second shift and untrained, so the employer had a particular duty to protect him.
• Moral: guests and staff were put at risk in the evacuation of 440 people.
• Financial: the insurance covers only insured costs such as damage and medical bills.
• Financial: uninsured costs are usually larger, such as five weeks of kitchen closure and lost banquet income.
• Financial: cancelled banquet bookings and lost future bookings are indirect costs.
• Financial: damage to reputation after press reports can reduce bookings in all three hotels.
• Financial: the cost of investigating, replacing and training staff and managers' time is not insured.
• Financial: insurance premiums may rise and cover may be refused if risks are not managed.
• Financial: the cost of a better fryer or maintenance would have been small compared with the total loss.
• Being lucky is not a management strategy, as near misses with the fryer had already happened.

Marks counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• The policy was signed eight years ago and has no review date, so it has not been kept current.
• It does not name responsibilities, although all workers at every level have responsibilities that should be clear.
• It sets no objectives, so there is nothing to measure.
• It does not say how the policy will be checked, so there are no arrangements for monitoring.
• Kitchen staff have never seen it, so it is not communicated.
• It is kept in a file at reception, not displayed or used.
• The policy does not cover consultation with workers.
• The MD's attitude shows that top management is not committed to it.
• Improve by naming who is responsible, from the MD to workers and contractors or agency staff.
• Improve by setting SMART objectives, such as inspecting fryers monthly and closing actions in 14 days.
• Improve by stating arrangements for planning, controlling hazards, consultation, communication and monitoring.
• Review the policy after changes, incidents and at set times, and make sure it reaches all staff, including agency staff.

Marks counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• The fryer thermostat was recorded as working for three months although cooks had reported that it fails, which shows the check was not done or was not accurate.
• Checklists were filled in quickly on one afternoon for all areas, which means little time was spent on each.
• The fixed extinguishing system was recorded as not applicable, although there is one on the cooking line and it has never been tested.
• Month 2 recorded the hood as not clean with cleaning booked, but nobody checked that it was done, and grease in the hood fed the fire.
• Staff trained in fire procedures was marked yes, although training was only a 10 minute talk.
• No comments were made in any month, which suggests that no real observations were recorded.
• A different manager did it each month, so there was no continuity and no competence in kitchens.
• The inspections are not discussed with staff, so workers' knowledge of problems is lost.
• Nobody reviewed the checklists, and no actions were tracked.
• Improve by using competent inspectors who know the kitchen and by involving cooks.
• Improve by checking equipment in operation, for example by testing the thermostat.
• Improve by using clear and specific checklists with space for comments and action owners.
• Improve by recording defects, setting priorities and dates, and following up.
• Improve by having managers review the results and by combining inspections with audits.

Marks counted: 0 of 14

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Verbal briefings at the start of a shift are quick and allow questions, but may be forgotten and are not recorded.
• Written procedures and notices give a record, but agency staff may not read English well and may not read them.
• Pictorial signs and photographs show safe fryer use quickly and across languages, but give limited detail.
• Translations of key instructions help agency staff, but cost time and money.
• Toolbox talks in the kitchen with a chance for questions allow cooks to raise concerns, but take time from service.
• A health and safety committee with worker representatives gives ownership and early warning of problems.
• A system for reporting defects in writing, such as a fault tag, creates a record, but needs to be acted on.
• Asking cooks for feedback during inspections can find hazards such as the fryer.
• Managers should respond positively to concerns, which Rana did not experience from the EC.
• Using several methods together overcomes the weakness of each.

Marks counted: 0 of 10

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• The cooks reported the fryer fault to the supervisor several times, which is in line with the duty to report.
• They reported only by word of mouth, so there was no record, and a written report would have been stronger.
• The supervisor told them to switch the fryer off and on, which is not a proper response to a safety defect.
• The supervisor says he told maintenance but there is no record, so the report may not have reached the people who could act.
• Rana spoke up that the fryer was unsafe, and the EC's reply discouraged reporting.
• Under C155 the employer cannot require workers to return to a work situation of continuing danger until remedial action is taken, so the fryer should have been taken out of use.
• The two cooks who tried to put out the fire with a wet cloth and water did not follow safe fire procedures, but they had only a 10 minute talk.
• Cooperation includes following instructions and using equipment correctly, which requires that the instructions are provided and understood.
• Staff who are afraid of losing their jobs are less likely to report, so management must encourage reporting.
• A system for stopping work if there is serious danger should be set out and supported by managers.
• Agency staff may not know how to report, because induction does not cover it.
• Managers also have a duty to respond to what workers report.

Marks counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Treat the incident as a high level investigation because of serious injury and the extent of damage.
• Give first aid and medical care, and make the area safe, as immediate actions.
• Preserve the fryer, thermostat, hood and fixed system for examination.
• Take statements from the cooks, the porter, the supervisor, maintenance staff and the EC.
• Collect documents such as purchase records, maintenance reports, inspection checklists and training records.
• Take photographs and plans of the kitchen and the extraction system.
• Immediate causes: thermostat failure, use of water on an oil fire, and a grease filled hood.
• Underlying cause: the purchase of a cheaper fryer without involving users or assessing the risk.
• Underlying cause: defects were reported only verbally and not acted on, with no fault system.
• Underlying cause: inadequate training for cooks and agency staff.
• Underlying cause: ineffective inspections and no testing of the fixed system.
• Set an action plan with owners and dates and review its effect.

Marks counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Plan: write a policy with named responsibilities and objectives, and communicate it to everyone.
• Plan: carry out a risk assessment of kitchen tasks, including frying and cleaning extraction.
• Plan: involve users when buying equipment and check safety features before the purchase.
• Plan: plan an emergency procedure for kitchen fires and for evacuating the hotel.
• Do: train cooks and agency staff in the safe use of fryers and in fire response, including the correct extinguisher.
• Do: provide an induction in the languages staff speak.
• Do: introduce a fault reporting system so that defective equipment is taken out of use.
• Do: maintain and test the thermostat, the hood and the fixed system on a schedule.
• Do: provide resources for repair and replacement of equipment.
• Check: carry out inspections by competent people and audit the system.
• Check: investigate near misses and use incident data.
• Act: review results regularly, including at top management level.
• Act: update the policy and procedures and share the learning across the three hotels.
• The cycle repeats, so improvements are continuous.

Marks counted: 0 of 14

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Accept that management arrangements contributed to the fire, and stop blaming the cook.
• Make resources available, for example for better equipment, maintenance and training.
• Define roles and responsibilities and appoint a senior person with responsibility for health and safety.
• Appoint competent people to help meet the duties, inside or outside the group.
• Review health and safety performance regularly and act on the results.
• Visit the kitchens and take part in inspections so that staff see commitment.
• Respond positively when staff raise concerns, for example the cook who spoke up.
• Set objectives and share the results with all staff.
• Treat labour cost targets in a way that does not push cooks to work unsafely.
• Include contract and agency staff in training and consultation.
• Take part in the safety committee and give it time and authority.
• Use disciplinary action fairly and consistently, not as the first reaction.
• Review the way equipment is bought so that safety counts as well as price.
• Communicate the lessons from the incident to all three hotels.

Marks counted: 0 of 14