Basic Rules of Kitchen Safety

Cooking is fun, but kitchen safety is a priority. There are many pieces of equipment and
environmental hazards that can be extremely dangerous. Sharp objects like knives, open
fire by the oven, electrical appliances, and even bacteria around the kitchen. Observing
basic rules of kitchen safety is a good habit to develop. Always pay attention to what
you’re doing in the kitchen because one slip can cause serious injury or accidents. To
prevent serious injuries or accidents: always pay attention to what you’re doing, adopt a
plan for kitchen cleanliness, and have necessary safety equipment at your disposal. It’s
also important to be aware of who is in the space – for example, children should never
be left alone in the kitchen!

 Store knives in a wooden block or in a drawer. Make sure the knives are out
of the reach of children. Follow these knife safety tips to prevent injury.
 Never cook in loose clothes and keep long hair tied back. You don’t want
anything accidentally catching fire (not to mention hair ending up in the food!).
 Never cook while wearing dangling jewelry. A bracelet can get tangled
around pot handles.
 Keep potholders nearby and use them! Be careful not to leave them near an
open flame.
 Turn pot handles away from the front of the stove. Children can’t grab them,
and adults can’t bump into them if they’re out of the way.
 Don’t let temperature-sensitive foods sit out in the kitchen. Raw meat,
fish, and certain dairy products can spoil quickly, so refrigerate or freeze them
right away.
 Wipe up spills immediately. Keep the floor dry so that no one slips and falls.
 Separate raw meat and poultry from other items whenever you use or
store them. This precaution avoids cross-contamination of harmful bacteria from
one food to another.
 Wash your hands before handling food and after handling meat or
poultry. Hands can be a virtual freight train of bacteria.
 Get a fire extinguisher for your kitchen. This device may not do much for
your cherries jubilee, but it can avert a disaster. You should do your best to prevent
a kitchen fire, but sometimes it’s out of your hands. So, make sure you know how
to use the extinguisher before a fire breaks out. You can’t waste any time reading
the directions amidst the flames.
 28 BASIC KITCHEN SAFETY TIPS
1. Make sure all wires, cords and plugs on your appliances are not frayed and that the
plugs have 3-prong grounded connections. This would include coffee makers, toasters,
blenders, microwaves, mixers, etc.
2. Don’t use extension cords. You can obtain a junction box that has built-in GFI (ground
fault interrupters). This will allow you extra plug in space and the GFI will kick in if
there is a power shortage. Helps avoid water/electrical shock accidents.
3. Get rid of any appliance that is broken or damaged. New ones are very inexpensive
these days. If a new one would bust your budget, try garage and tag sales (just make
sure you’re not buying somebody else’s broken appliance).
4. Put a childproof lock not only on the cabinets with your medicines and cleaning
supplies, but also your oven.
5. Don’t leave the kitchen with pots & pans cooking on the stove. Make sure to turn off
burners as soon as you take the pot off.
6. Avoid wearing inappropriate clothing while cooking. That means loose sleeves and
sweaters.
7. Keep dish towels, pot holders and oven mitts away from the stove.
8. Keep matches and lighters in high places where curious little hands can’t reach them.
9. If using candles in the kitchen, don’t leave the room (or home) while they’re burning.
Make sure they are in a safe place and are in flame proof containers.
10. Check furniture, curtains, dish towels, etc. to be sure they are not blocking heaters or
vents.
11. Keep a fire extinguisher in or near the kitchen, but not near the stove or the heater.
12. In case of a grease fire, salt and/or baking soda will help if you do not have a fire
extinguisher.
13. Keep emergency numbers handy – 911 is easy to remember, but phone numbers to
Poison Control might take longer.
14. Scalding is one of the most common injuries in the kitchen. Make sure to turn pot
handles away from the front of the stove and away from little curious hands.
15. Scalding can occur from hot steam as well. Be careful when lifting lids from hot food
(including opening that hot bag of microwave popcorn)!
16. Handling Knives: (a) Always cut away from your body when using a knife. It can slip
and cut you, (b) Always use a cutting board, (c) Protect your counter tops, (d) Keep
blades sharp, (e) Keep knives clean (including handle) – slippery handles can cause
injuries, (f) Don’t put knives in a sink of soapy water – they may not be seen and
accidents can occur, (g) Wash and dry carefully keeping sharp edge away from your
hands, (h) Always lay them flat, never on the back or edge, (i) Don’t attempt to catch
a knife as it falls – better it hits the floor than cut your hand, (j) Wash knives with
warm soapy water after each use.
17. Be sure appliances are unplugged before touching sharp edges (blenders, can openers,
mixers, etc.).
18. Never stick a fork in a toaster to retrieve trapped toast – you may get shocking results.
19. Always be sure the blender is unplugged before touching the blades.
20. Be careful about sharp edges: scissors, broken glass, potato peeler, etc.
21. Never ever, ever leave cooking foods unattended – not even for a minute.
22. Casualness causes casualties – don’t answer or talk on the phone while cooking – you
can be distracted and injuries can result.
23. Clean up spills immediately – wet floors are slippery when wet.
24. Keep the kitchen floor clear or toys and other items.
25. Be certain that walking areas are always clear of toys and other items.
26. Keep young children out of the kitchen while cooking.
27. Always use a step-stool to reach high places.
28. Store cleaning supplies and all chemicals in a safe place. Use safety latches.
What is biodiversity?
The source document for this Digest states:

 Biodiversity is the variability among living organisms from all sources,

including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological
complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species,
between species, and of ecosystems.
 Biodiversity forms the foundation of the vast array of ecosystem services that
critically contribute to human well-being.
 Biodiversity is important in human-managed as well as natural ecosystems.
 Decisions humans make that influence biodiversity affect the well-being of
themselves and others.

Biodiversity is the foundation of ecosystem services to which human well-

being is intimately linked. No feature of Earth is more complex, dynamic, and varied
than the layer of living organisms that occupy its surfaces and its seas, and no feature is
experiencing more dramatic change at the hands of humans than this extraordinary,
singularly unique feature of Earth. This layer of living organisms—the biosphere—through
the collective metabolic activities of its innumerable plants, animals, and microbes
physically and chemically unites the atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere into one
environmental system within which millions of species, including humans, have thrived.
Breathable air, potable water, fertile soils, productive lands, bountiful seas, the equitable
climate of Earth’s recent history, and other ecosystem services (see Box 1.1 and Key
Question 2) are manifestations of the workings of life. It follows that large-scale human
influences over this biota have tremendous impacts on human well-being. It also follows
that the nature of these impacts, good or bad, is within the power of humans to influence
(CF2).

Defining Biodiversity

Biodiversity is defined as “the variability among living organisms from all

sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems
and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity
within species, between species and of ecosystems.” The importance of this
definition is that it draws attention to the many dimensions of biodiversity. It explicitly
recognizes that every biota can be characterized by its taxonomic, ecological, and genetic
diversity and that the way these dimensions of diversity vary over space and time is a
key feature of biodiversity. Thus only a multidimensional assessment of biodiversity can
provide insights into the relationship between changes in biodiversity and changes in
ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services (CF2).

Biodiversity includes all ecosystems—managed or unmanaged. Sometimes

biodiversity is presumed to be a relevant feature of only unmanaged ecosystems, such
as wildlands, nature preserves, or national parks. This is incorrect. Managed systems—
be they plantations, farms, croplands, aquaculture sites, rangelands, or even urban parks
and urban ecosystems—have their own biodiversity. Given that cultivated systems alone
now account for more than 24% of Earth’s terrestrial surface, it is critical that any decision
concerning biodiversity or ecosystem services address the maintenance of biodiversity in
these largely anthropogenic systems (C26.1).

Measuring Biodiversity: Species Richness and Indicators

In spite of many tools and data sources, biodiversity remains difficult to

quantify precisely. But precise answers are seldom needed to devise an
effective understanding of where biodiversity is, how it is changing over space
and time, the drivers responsible for such change, the consequences of such
change for ecosystem services and human well-being, and the response
options available. Ideally, to assess the conditions and trends of biodiversity either
globally or sub-globally, it is necessary to measure the abundance of all organisms over
space and time, using taxonomy (such as the number of species), functional traits (for
example, the ecological type such as nitrogen-fixing plants like legumes versus non-
nitrogen-fixing plants), and the interactions among species that affect their dynamics and
function (predation, parasitism, competition, and facilitation such as pollination, for
instance, and how strongly such interactions affect ecosystems). Even more important
would be to estimate turnover of biodiversity, not just point estimates in space or time.
Currently, it is not possible to do this with much accuracy because the data are lacking.
Even for the taxonomic component of biodiversity, where information is the best,
considerable uncertainty remains about the true extent and changes in taxonomic
diversity (C4).

There are many measures of biodiversity; species richness (the number of

species in a given area) represents a single but important metric that is
valuable as the common currency of the diversity of life—but it must be
integrated with other metrics to fully capture biodiversity. Because the
multidimensionality of biodiversity poses formidable challenges to its measurement, a
variety of surrogate or proxy measures are often used. These include the species richness
of specific taxa, the number of distinct plant functional types (such as grasses, forbs,
bushes, or trees), or the diversity of distinct gene sequences in a sample of microbial
DNA taken from the soil. Species- or other taxon-based measures of biodiversity,
however, rarely capture key attributes such as variability, function, quantity, and
distribution—all of which provide insight into the roles of biodiversity. (See Box 1.2)

Ecological indicators are scientific constructs that use quantitative data to

measure aspects of biodiversity, ecosystem condition, services, or drivers of
change, but no single ecological indicator captures all the dimensions of
biodiversity (C2.2.4). (See Box 1.3) Ecological indicators form a critical component of
monitoring, assessment, and decision-making and are designed to communicate
information quickly and easily to policy-makers. In a similar manner, economic indicators
such as GDP are highly influential and well understood by decision-makers. Some
environmental indicators, such as global mean temperature and atmospheric CO2
concentrations, are becoming widely accepted as measures of anthropogenic effects on
global climate. Ecological indicators are founded on much the same principles and
therefore carry with them similar pros and cons (C2.2.4). (See Box 1.4)."

The Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the amount of variety of life on Earth. It is the number of different

species of plants, animals, and microorganisms. It includes organisms from Earth’s
vastly different ecosystems, including deserts, rainforests, coral reefs, grasslands,
tundra, and polar ice caps.

Our biodiversity is very important to the well-being of our planet. Most cultures, at least
at some time, have recognized the importance of conserving natural resources. Many
still do, but many do not.

Healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity:

 Increase ecosystem productivity; each species in an ecosystem has a specific niche—a

role to play.
 Support a larger number of plant species and, therefore, a greater variety of crops.
 Protect freshwater resources.
 Promote soils formation and protection.
 Provide for nutrient storage and recycling.
 Aid in breaking down pollutants.
 Contribute to climate stability.
 Speed recovery from natural disasters.
 Provide more food resources.
 Provide more medicinal resources and pharmaceutical drugs.
 Offer environments for recreation and tourism.
How do we replace lost biodiversity? Our environments and the species that live in
them need a diverse population of genes. More genetic defects are caused by
inbreeding. With reduced diversity in the gene pool, the chance for extinction increases.

All species, including humans, are adversely

affected by the loss of species diversity.