Safety first

Over many years I’ve always emphasised safety in the classroom kitchen. Since I’m hopeless with blood I’ve always warned of the dangers- sharp knives, graters, peelers, food processors- you get the idea. My insistence on cutting vegetables using your fingers like a bridge is an obvious example. Being able to illustrate the dangers using real people and their accidents is always a hit with children who often have a penchant for the gory details. Technician Linda is legendary! She was washing the food processor blade when the phone rang. She hastily dried her hands and disappeared into the office to deal with the call. When she came back she plunged her hands into the washing up bowl…….you guessed. She hurried off to see the nurse who dealt with her wounds. Another time, my cleaner Simon had filled the staff room sink with dirty cups and glasses. As it filled with water and suds he pushed the dish cloth into a glass and it broke. Even the nurse couldn’t deal with that and she took him to A&E…..Then there’s the stick blender. A friend forgot to switch it off before wiping the cream off the blade. A jacket potato exploded in another friend’s face when her daughter had forgotten to stab the skins. A&E again. Sharing these mishaps may have prevented some nasty accidents I’m sure, so now you have the background to my safety obsession and as a wise friend observed, all of these happened to grown-ups!