Summer Safety Notice

Barbecue Safety Advice

Outdoor activities are often a great way to spend your leisure time but they have their own set of unique fire risks that should not be underestimated. However, some common sense preparation can ensure you have a safe and enjoyable experience.

Barbecue

A barbecue should be a safe and enjoyable experience but it’s all too easy to be distracted when you have friends and family around you whilst cooking. To avoid injuries or damage to property, follow these simple precautions:

General Safety

· Make sure your barbecue is in good working order.

· Ensure the barbecue is on a flat site, well away from a shed, trees or shrubs.

· Keep children, games and pets well away from the cooking area.

· Never leave the barbecue unattended.

· Keep a bucket of water, sand or extinguisher nearby for emergencies.

· Ensure the barbecue is cool before attempting to move it.

 

Charcoal Barbecues

· Use only enough charcoal to cover the base to a depth of about 50mm (2 inches).

· Only use recognised fire lighters or starter fuel and only on cold coals – use the minimum necessary and never use petrol.

· Never put hot ashes straight into a dustbin or wheelie bin – they could melt the plastic and cause a fire.

 

Gas Barbecues

· Make sure the tap is turned off before changing the gas cylinder.

· Change cylinders outdoors if possible or in a well ventilated area.

· If you suspect a leak to the cylinder or pipe work, brush soapy water around the joints and watch for bubbles – tighten to fix but do not over tighten.

· After cooking, turn off the gas cylinder before turning off at the controls to ensure any residual gas in the pipe work is used up.

 

Never store gas cylinders inside the property.

 

 

Food poisoning

Cases double over the summer, so remember these simple steps to help keep food safe.

 

Food poisoning is usually mild, and most people get better within a week. But sometimes it can be more severe, even deadly, so it’s important to take the risks seriously. Children, older people and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to food poisoning.

 

“The safest option is to cook food indoors using your oven,” says a spokesperson from the Food Standards Agency (FSA). “You can then put the cooked food outside on the barbecue for flavour.” This can be an easier option if you’re cooking for a lot of people at the same time.

 

If cooking only on the barbecue,the two main risk factors are:

· undercooked meat

· spreading germs from raw meat onto food that’s ready to eat

This is because raw or undercooked meat can contain germs that cause food poisoning, such as salmonella, E.coli and campylobacter. However, these germs can be killed by cooking meat until it is piping hot throughout.

 

Germs from raw meat can move easily onto your hands, and then onto anything else you touch,such as food that is cooked and ready to eat

Cooking meat on a barbecue

When you’re cooking any kind of meat on a barbecue, such as poultry (chicken or turkey), pork, steak, burgers or sausages, make sure:

 

· The coals are glowing red with a powdery grey surface before you start cooking, as this means that they’re hot enough.

· Frozen meat is properly thawed before you cook it.

· You turn the meat regularly and move it around the barbecue to cook it evenly.

 

Remember that meat is safe to eat only when:

· It is piping hot in the centre.

· There is no pink meat visible.

· Any juices are clear.

“Don’t assume that because meat is charred on the outside it will be cooked properly on the inside,” says the FSA spokesperson. “Cut the meat at the thickest part and ensure none of it is pink on the inside.”

 

Some meat, such as steaks and joints of beef or lamb, can be served rare (not cooked in the middle) as long as the outside has been properly cooked. This will kill any bacteria that might be on the outside of the meat. However, food made from minced meat,such as sausages and burgers, must be cooked thoroughly all the way through.

Raw meat

Germs from raw meat can move easily onto your hands and then anything else you touch, including food that is cooked and ready to eat. This is called cross-contamination.

 

Cross-contamination can happen if raw meat touches anything (including plates, cutlery, tongs and chopping boards) that then comes into contact with other food.

 

Some easy steps to help prevent cross-contamination are:

· Always wash your hands after touching raw meat.

· Use separate utensils (plates, tongs, containers) for cooked and raw meat.

· Never put cooked food on a plate or surface that has had raw meat on it.

· Keep raw meat in a sealed container away from foods that are ready to eat, such as salads and buns.

· Don’t put raw meat next to cooked or partly cooked meat on the barbecue.

· Don’t put sauce or marinade on cooked food if it has already been used with raw meat.

Keeping food cool

It’s also important to keep some foods cool to prevent food-poisoning germs multiplying.

Make sure you keep the following foods cool:

· salads

· dips

· milk, cream, yoghurt

· desserts and cream cakes

· sandwiches

· ham and other cooked meats

· cooked rice, including rice salads

Don’t leave food out of the fridge for more than a couple of hours, and don’t leave food in the sun.

 

Key messages for staying safe in warm weather

 

Keep out of the sun between 11am and 3pm if you have to go out in the heat, walk in the shade, apply sunscreen and wear a hat avoid physical exertion wear light, loose fitting cotton clothes drink plenty of cold drinks

 

If you have a health problem, keep medicines below 25 °C or in the refrigerator

 

Look out for others especially vulnerable groups and those with serious illnesses

 

NEVER leave anyone in a closed, parked vehicle,

 

Remember that it can get uncomfortably hot indoors too.

Try to keep your bedroom and living space cool, by closing the curtains on windows that receive the sun and opening your windows at cooler times of the day and overnight when safe to do so.

When it is hot outside, make sure that you have plenty of water

Because water is healthy for you

Water makes up about two thirds of our body. Without water we would not be able to survive.

Every day our body loses water in normal processing, in chemical reactions, when we go to the bathroom, sweating, and small amounts each time we exhale.

Water is important for temperature regulation, lubricating your joints, protecting our spinal cord and other sensitive tissue, and as I stated earlier, removing waste from the body.

It is important for us to drink water or eat foods that our bodies can convert to water, every day.

Put water on your shopping list today and always have some at home. Take it out with you on every trip.

Sunburn is skin damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) rays. It usually causes the skin to become red, sore, warm, tender and occasionally itchy for about a week.

 

You should always be aware of the risk of sunburn if you’re outside in strong sun, and look out for your skin getting hot.

 

The risk of getting sunburnt is highest between March and October, particularly between 11am and 3pm, when the sun’s rays are most intense. Beware that cloudy skies and cool breezes can make you feel cooler and underestimate how much sun you’ve been exposed to, but you may still be exposed to damaging levels of sunlight.

 

 

You can reduce your risk of sunburn by following the advice:

– Avoid exposure to sunlight when the sun is strongest – stay in the shade as much as possible, cover up with loose clothing and a hat, and use sunscreen.

– Apply a generous amount of sunscreen 15-30 minutes before going out in the sun and reapply at least every two hours – even water-resistant sunscreens should be reapplied after you come out of the water.

– When buying sunscreen, choose one that has a high sun protection factor (SPF) – sunscreen with an SPF of 50 offers the best level of protection.

 

You should also wear sunglasses when out in the sun to reduce the risk of UV rays damaging your eyes.