Cooking in your kitchen can be an extremely enjoyable and social experience. Many people love to come up with new recipes and share nourishing meals with family and friends.    

Whether you’re a novice or a gourmet chef, or maybe a cook’s little helper, it’s important that you know what to do to keep safe in the kitchen.  

According to the National Fire Protection Association, cooking fires are the top cause of accidental home fires and gas leaks whether through accidental stove turn-on or unattended cooking. The National Fire Protection Association provides some alarming statistics about home cooking fires. A report issued in July of 2020 revealed that between 2014 and 2018, fire departments in the U.S. responded to approximately 172,900 home structure fires per year that started from cooking activities. What’s more, home kitchen fires peak around the end-of-year Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. 

At RangeSafe, we take kitchen safety seriously. In today’s article, we want to help make sure everyone understands how to stay safe while maneuvering within the kitchen.   

Avoiding Gas Leaks In Your Home 

One of the biggest dangers with a gas-fuelled stove, oven, or range is the potential for a gas leak.    

Gas is highly flammable, and gas leaks are dangerous for the following reasons: 

• Risk of fire or explosion: A gas leak can lead to highly combustible fires that spread quickly and may cause explosions. 

• Health issues: Inhaling leaking gas can create a number of symptoms including chest pain, dizziness, nausea, headache, fatigue, and poor concentration. 

• Carbon emission: Gas leaks collectively lead to higher carbon emissions in the atmosphere. 

How do you avoid a gas leak in your kitchen? Making sure the stove knob is turned on sufficiently to ignite the flame is very important. If not, gas can leak from the burner and fill the kitchen and house with dangerous gas fumes.   

The other practical, pro-active step one can take is to ensure that the stove knob cannot be bumped or turned on accidentally.  This can occur by simply bumping into or reaching above the stove or a child or pet mischievously playing with or reaching for the knobs.  The best way to prevent this from happening is to install either stove knob covers, or more effectively locking stove safety knobs which are designed to significantly reduce the chances of accidentally igniting a burner and creating a gas leak.  

An overall prudent safety program for both domestic and commercial kitchens would include the following steps: 

• Make sure burners are properly turned on to create a flame 

• Ensure your burners are turned off completely when you switch them off 

• Avoid accidentally bumping into the stove which can turn on the stove burners 

• Keeping your stove in good working order; some authorities recommend getting your stove maintained every five years or so 

• Watch your children: Young kids love playing with knobs, so you should consider introducing  safety precautions, like locking stove safety knobs to help prevent children from turning on stove knobs.  

• Protect elderly residents: Older residents, particularly those with cognitive decline, should be protected from accidentally turning on stove knobs. 

• Keep the stove top clear: Don’t use the stove as a counter. Be sure that the area around the stove is kept clear, clean, tidy, and clutter-free.

These are just some precautions you can take to maintain kitchen fire safety. Each home is unique; take inventory of your kitchen and make a list of risks and potential hazards. Then go through your list, item by item, and create ways to minimize or eliminate these hazards and make your kitchen a safe place to be.  

Professional Advice for Preventing Home Kitchen Fires 

The National Fire Protection Association has also compiled a safety checklist that provides good guidance for kitchen safety: 

·       When you cook, don’t leave the kitchen unattended. 

·       Regularly test your smoke alarms. 

·       Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and make sure it hasn’t expired. Also make sure you know how to use it. 

·       Watch your children! It might be a good idea to keep young children out of the kitchen when you are cooking. 

·       Install RangeSafe stove safety knobs to prevent fires and gas leaks.  

·       Teach older children how to cook safely, and be sure to supervise them. 

·       Test your smoke alarms to make sure they’re working properly.  

·       Clean stovetop spills thoroughly to avoid spilled foods or liquids catching fire; spilled oil is especially dangerous and needs to be cleaned up quickly and completely. 

·       Keep the area around your stove clear of any items, most especially flammable ones. 

·       A timer can help you keep track of how long something has been cooking to avoid the risk of overcooking and burning food items or cookware. 

About RangeSafe 

RangeSafe Stove Safety Knobs are a highly effective way to reduce the risk of accidental stove ignition and gas leaks.  RangeSafe’s unique “press, push and turn” design reduces the risk of accidents.

To learn more about RangeSafe stove safety knobs, you can contact us at www. Rangesafe.com or by calling us at 434-229-7401.