Kitchen safety

Follow our cooking advice to stay safe in the kitchen:

• make sure your cooker was fitted by a qualified fitter
• keep your oven, cooker and grill clean. Clean up any fat
• 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 spilling
• use a flameless lighter on gas cookers instead of matches or a lighter.

You should never:

• hang or dry clothes or 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
• cook after drinking alcohol or taking drugs or if you are feeling tired.

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

Traditional chip pans are more likely to cause fires. If you do use one, follow this 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.

Washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers have working parts that heat up and 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 you’re going out or going to bed.