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Posted By Kim Sunley
Just want to gauge opinion on the use of electrical toasters in staff rest rooms/kitchens (in facilities without access to a staff canteen). Subject to statutory checks, staff not leaving the room while toast is on and regular cleaning of crumbs are they safe? We had an incident with a toaster where the fire brigade attended. They didn't recommend banning the toaster but recommended that our smoke detector was replaced with a heat detector.
Any views?
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Posted By Richard Weir-Ewing
I would consider the insurance, PAT testing, as well as the H&S costs. Accidents do occur and people are careless at times.
I would like to add to the thread in relation to Kettles and Microwaves.
My view would be to ban them from the work place total. Unless in one designated area such as a kitchen or rest room.
Also what if the employees buy the items?
A lot of pressure from staff at total removal, but they get over it. It happened at my last company - just needs strong management.
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Posted By Simon Wright
Working in a large office building, we had a toaster set of a smoke alarm at the very top of the building when the toast got burned. The Fire Service found it but it was the straw that broke the camel's back - we had had too many false alarms over the previous months for a variety of reasons and they took us off their automatic call-out response list. We had to prove that we were taking a more rigourous approach to preventing false alarms for a considerable time before we were allowed back onto their list. The price of a slower than possible call-out by the Fire Service weighed against a few employees' toast cravings were resolved by getting rid of the toaster (after a recorded risk assessment of the toasting process!).
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Posted By Heather Aston
I was once dragged out of a student hall of residence at 2 am because some plonker set the smoke alarm off making toast. As it was a female only hall, it was interesting to see how many men appeared to be living there....
Seriously though folks, this is a classic case for checking as part of your fire risk assessment that you don't have smoke alarms in inappropriate areas like kitchens, bathrooms, shower rooms, or anywhere else where they might get set off acidentally. Replace them with heat detectors instead.
We don't usually have toasters, but no way would I ban microwaves or kettles from designated kitchens/rest rooms.
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Posted By Richard Weir-Ewing
Heather, I did not say ban from kitchens or rest rooms. I said unless they in such areas. Meaning away from the workplace and in a safe area.
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Posted By Heather Aston
Richard
I hadn't meant to imply that you did - I agree with you that they shouldn't be in other areas. The OP was asking about rest rooms/kitchens though.
With regard to employees buying such things for use at work. That's a simple one - you don't let any electrical appliances on site unless the company buys, approves and PAT tests them. I say simple, but I am aware that it's not as simple as it sounds to enforce it!
On a slightly OT note, I always used to look inside the microwave in the rest room/canteen/amenity room or whatever when I was doing an audit. Whole ecosystems had developed in some of these..... not a pleasant thought.
Heather
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Posted By Tom Clark
Yes - simple answer is fitting the heat detector. I've been there, if the fire brigade say it's OK then fine.
Why alienate yourself by banning a bit of toast. The only problem is why is the toast burning in the first place? Is there a control problem - if so it might need restrictions on the temp control and possibly ensure that anyone toasting stays with the toaster until it's done.
Why do some of the simple things give so much trouble?
Regards Tom
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Posted By Kim Sunley
Thanks for the response. On reflection I don't think I'll be banning marmite on toasts as yet, so long as appropriate controls are in place.
(and yes I have also seen microwave ovens that were so full of life they could have hurled themselves off the shelf in a bid for freedom!)
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Posted By Heather Aston
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Marmite......
Some people would say it was a special hazard all of its own, but what do they know?
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Posted By J Knight
Could any antipodean toasters, sorry, posters, enlighten us on why Vegemite is ever mentioned in the same breath as Marmite?
John
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Posted By Messy
2 ways to prevent this nuisance:
Heat detector (already covered)
And wiring the toaster directly into the wall (via a fused outlet of course). This stops the compulsory office plonker taking the toaster to areas covered by smoke detectors
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