201814 PPE for cooks too

On a vessel underway, the cook was in the galley preparing meals. One of his tasks was to skin and cut poultry. While attending to this job he accidentally cut a finger on his left hand. The investigation revealed that although the chicken was tested for appropriate tenderness before cutting and the knife used was properly sharpened and the correct size for the task, the cook was not wearing a protective ‘cut glove’ on his left hand.

 

 

 

 

Lessons learned
Using a protective ‘cut glove’ on the hand that holds the item to be cut is not always the first choice for cooks, but it should be. Just as hard hats and steel-toed boots are now the norm on deck and in the engine room, in the kitchen appropriate PPE should become part of the culture.