Kitchen Hazards Checklist

Daily kitchen hazards checklist for wet floors, knives, hot oil, and chemical storage before service.

Estimated time: 10 min
Frequency: daily
Business type: restaurant
Category: audit
Role: kitchen manager
Role: shift lead

Purpose

Walk the line before service and fix slips, cuts, burns, and chemical hazards while you can still correct them.

Restaurant kitchen hazards are the injuries waiting on a normal shift: wet floors, loose knives, hot oil, and unlabeled chemicals. This checklist is the prevention pass before service. OSHA's restaurant eTool expects clean, dry floors, guarded hot surfaces, and labeled chemicals with safety data sheets on hand. If someone is already hurt, or a fire or spill is out of control, switch to the emergency procedures checklist and get help. This sheet is an operations checklist. It does not certify the kitchen under OSHA or your local code.

Floors and slips

A wet or cluttered floor next to the fryer is a fall into hot oil.

Floors dry, degreased, and clear of boxes

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.22 requires floors to be kept clean and dry. Grease at the fryer and water at the dish pit are the usual slip points, and a fall there lands next to hot oil.

Inspection: OSHA's restaurant food-prep eTool calls for prompt spill cleanup and clear walkways. A health inspector will also cite grease on the floor as a sanitation failure.

Common mistakes: Leaving a towel on a grease spot and calling the floor dry. The towel slides.
Mats flat, edges down, drain covers seated

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: A curled mat is a trip. A missing drain cover is a hole in the walkway. OSHA's eTool tells employers to replace loose drain covers and use non-slip mats where the floor stays wet.

Inspection: Check the mat in front of the dish machine and the fryer. Those two spots fail first.

Common mistakes: Stacking a new mat on top of a curled one. The edge still catches a shoe.
Wet-floor sign at the station, not in the office

Why it matters: 29 CFR 1910.145 covers warning signs for wet floors. The sign has to be where the mop is. A sign in the manager's office does not warn the dishwasher.

Inspection: Post the sign while the floor is wet, then remove it when the floor is dry so the crew still trusts it.

Common mistakes: Parking the sign in the walkway after the floor has dried. People step around it and into the real hazard.

Knives and cuts

Blades live in a rack or a marked container, not in the suds.

Knives in a rack, sheath, or container marked for knives

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: OSHA's restaurant cleanup eTool says to clean a knife right away or place it in a dishwasher or a container labeled for knives only. A blade in a full sink cuts the next hand that reaches in.

Inspection: Look in the prep sink and the dish sink at the start of the shift. That is where loose knives hide.

Common mistakes: Wrapping a knife in a towel on the board. The next cook grabs the towel.
Dull knives and open slicer blades pulled from the line

Why it matters: A dull knife slips off the product and into a hand. A slicer left open with the blade exposed cuts whoever walks the pass.

Inspection: Guards stay on the slicer when it is not in a cut. Pull a dull knife and send it to be honed before service.

Common mistakes: Leaving the slicer plugged in and unguarded between tickets.
Cut-resistant gloves stocked at the board and the slicer

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: OSHA's cooking eTool says to use steel-mesh or Kevlar gloves when cutting, under the hand-protection rule in 29 CFR 1910.138. Gloves at the office do not help the cook on the board.

Inspection: One pair at the slicer and one at the prep board is the minimum. Replace a glove with a hole before the shift.

Common mistakes: Wearing a cut glove over a dirty cloth glove and then handling ready-to-eat food. The cut glove is for the blade. Clean hands handle the food. So does a clean disposable glove.

Burns and hot surfaces

Fryers cause more restaurant burns than any other station. Treat the oil that way.

Pan handles turned in, over the range

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: OSHA's cooking eTool says pot handles stay off the front edge of the range and away from burners. A handle in the aisle gets caught by a bus tub.

Inspection: Walk the sauté line from the pass. Any handle you can bump fails the item.

Common mistakes: Turning one handle in and leaving the next pan sticking into the aisle.
Dry oven mitts at the oven, the fryer, and the pass

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: A wet mitt conducts heat straight to the hand. OSHA's cooking guidance says to use dry mitts or pot holders for hot pans, and long mitts for deep ovens.

Inspection: Hang mitts where the cook can reach them without crossing a burner. Retire a mitt with a hole.

Common mistakes: Using a side towel as a mitt. The thin towel slips, and grease soaks through.
Fryer oil at the fill line, vat covered when idle, no water nearby

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: OSHA's cooking eTool calls deep fryers the leading cause of burns in restaurants. Water or ice in hot oil flashes to steam and throws oil. Oil stored on the floor is a slip into the fryer.

Inspection: Confirm the oil is inside the fill marks and that a lid or screen is on an idle vat. Keep the filter and the discard pot empty of water.

Common mistakes: Dropping frozen, wet product straight into the vat. Shake off ice in the sink first, then lower the basket.

Chemicals

Labeled bottles, stored off the food, with the safety data sheet where the crew can read it.

Spray bottles and jugs labeled with the product name

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: OSHA's hazard communication standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200, requires labels on hazardous chemical containers. A clear bottle of degreaser next to a clear bottle of sanitizer is how the wrong chemical hits a food-contact surface.

Inspection: OSHA's cleanup eTool says to label any secondary container. An unlabeled bottle fails even if the closer 'knows' what is in it.

Common mistakes: Peeling the label off and writing nothing. Replace the label the same shift.
Chemicals stored below and away from food and clean wares

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: A leaking jug on a shelf above flour contaminates the food under it. OSHA also warns that chlorine and ammonia, stored or mixed together, can release chlorine gas.

Inspection: Check the chemical shelf and the mop closet. Food, clean pans, and chemicals get separate homes.

Common mistakes: Setting a sanitizer bucket on a cutting board between tasks. The board is a food-contact surface.
Safety data sheets available to the crew on this shift

Pass / Fail

Why it matters: 29 CFR 1910.1200 gives employees the right to read the safety data sheet for the chemicals they use. A binder locked in the owner's office is not access during a splash.

Inspection: The binder or the digital file has to open without a manager's personal login. Include oven cleaner, floor cleaner, sanitizer, and dish detergent.

Common mistakes: Keeping SDS for last year's chemical after you switched brands. The sheet has to match the bottle.
Hazards found and who will fix them before service (optional)

Note

Frequently asked questions

What are the main kitchen hazards in a restaurant?

The hazards that show up on a normal shift are slips on wet or greasy floors, cuts from knives and slicers, burns from fryer oil and hot pans, and chemical exposure from unlabeled cleaners. OSHA's restaurant eTools group the same risks under floors, cooking, and cleanup. This checklist is the daily pass for those four. Power loss, fire, and an injury that has already happened belong on the emergency procedures checklist, with a manager leading the response.

How often should a kitchen hazards checklist be completed?

Run it before each service, or at the start of the shift if you only open once. A lunch-to-dinner flip needs a second pass if the floor got wet, the fryer was filtered, or chemicals were refilled. The kitchen manager or shift lead signs the sheet. Ten minutes is enough when the line is already set. A blank week means the pass stopped, not that the hazards went away.

What does OSHA expect for wet kitchen floors?

OSHA's walking-working surfaces rule, 29 CFR 1910.22, says floors in a place of employment are kept clean and dry. Where a wet process is part of the work, the employer provides drainage and dry standing places such as mats where that is practical. Wet-floor signs fall under 29 CFR 1910.145. OSHA's restaurant food-prep eTool adds the practical version: clean spills promptly, secure mats, and repair loose drain covers. Follow your local fire code on exits. A sign over a puddle is not a substitute for mopping it up.

How should restaurant kitchens store knives and chemicals?

Store knives in a rack, a sheath, or a container marked for knives, which is the practice OSHA's cleanup eTool describes. A loose blade in a soapy sink is how someone gets cut reaching for a spoon. Store chemicals in labeled containers, away from food, with safety data sheets available to the crew. OSHA's hazard communication standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200, covers labels, training, and SDS access. Chlorine and ammonia stay apart. Mixing them can release chlorine gas.

When should the team switch to the emergency procedures checklist?

Switch when the hazard has become an incident: a person is burned or cut and needs first aid, oil is on fire, a chemical has mixed and people are coughing, or the power is out and food temperatures are at risk. The kitchen hazards checklist is the pass you run so those moments are rarer. The emergency procedures checklist covers evacuation, 911, first aid, and the incident note. Finish the prevention sheet later. People come first.

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