Kitchen Safety

General cooking

• Make sure your home has working smoke alarms. Consider fitting a heat alarm in your kitchen
• Make sure your cooker is or has been fitted properly by a qualified fitter
• Keep your oven, cooker and grill clean and make sure there’s no fat on it
• Keep tea towels, cloths and kitchen paper away from the cooker
• Keep fats and oils away from the cooker
• Cook with handles turned to the side to avoid them spilling
• Use a flameless lighter on gas cookers instead of matches or a lighter

You should never:

• Hang or dry clothing and towels on or near the cooker
• Leave your cooker, grill or oven on when you go out – even on a timer
• Leave electrical wires or cords near the cooker
• Keep anything on top of an eye-level grill
• Put anything metal in your microwave – even tin foil

Chip pans and deep-frying

Modern electric deep fat fryers are much safer than traditional chip pans as they have a safety switch that cuts them off to stop them overheating and catching fire.

Try not to use a traditional chip pan if you can because there's always a high risk of fire. If you do use a traditional chip pan, follow our safety advice:

• Only ever fill one third full
• Turn the handle to the side – but not over any of the other cooker rings
• Fry in small amounts – overfilling could cause spills
• Make sure food going in it is dry, not dripping wet or covered in ice.

You should never:

• Deep fry when you’ve been drinking alcohol or taking drugs or if you are feeling tired
• Leave the pan alone - It only takes a second for a fire to start

Other kitchen appliances

Washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers have powerful parts that heat up, any of which could start a fire if something goes wrong. Follow our safety advice:

• Always switch appliances off at the wall before going to bed or going out

• Always plug straight into a wall socket and avoid adaptors for lots of plugs as they can result in electricity overloads

• Never Leave them running when going out or to bed

Open fires and stoves

• Keep all furniture at least three feet away from your fire
• Put the fire guard up if you feel sleepy
• Let fires burn down before going to bed – and don’t forget to put the guard up
• Keep the guard up at all times if you have children or pets
• Have your chimney swept at least once a year - twice if you use it lots
• Check your hearth regularly – if it’s cracked, have it fixed professionally

You should never:

• Leave a lit fire unattended without a fireguard
• Use flammable liquids like barbecue lighter fuel to light a fire
• Throw flammable liquids or spray cans onto the fire
• Use building or packing timber as firewood – it’s very sparky
• Dry clothes over or in front of the fire – they could catch light
• Place mirrors over the fire – people stand too close and risk setting clothes on fire

For stoves, you should also:

• Replace any cracked door glass or casings immediately
• Always use certified fire glass in stove doors
• Use the right type of fuel (using coal in wood stoves can damage them)
• Be careful not to leave flammable items like clothes and paper on top of the stove