Tandoor Houses under the Scanner in Birmingham
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
The city council of
The Environmental Health Department at Birmingham City Council has started an investigation on all curry houses within city limits. 27 places around the city have been investigated where the management and employees were questioned about the maintenance of the ovens and other equipment. Two employees at different restaurants were injured and both the ovens were seized and found to be substandard due to poor maintenance.
The oven at Handsworth’s Chandni Chowks Restaurant and Sweets was never maintained after its initial installation. To top it off, the oven was installed by chef rather than an engineer. The oven blew up as an employee tried to light it, causing injuries to his face and hands. The health and safety inspection concluded that there were many defects with the oven; not just the installation.
The owners at this restaurant were asked to pay a fine of £3,500 and additional costs of £2,500 for being guilty of not maintaining their tandoor. The latter amount was paid to Birmingham Magistrates Court.
The other incident occurred because the engineer who installed the equipment was not certified to work with catering machinery. The investigation concluded that the ignition systems in the ovens were defective, and thus the employees used burning paper serviettes to light them, an obviously perilous practice. Other causes of accidents and health risk included poorly constructed ovens and poor ventilation in the kitchens, leading to increasing amounts of carbon monoxide in the air which lay the workers open to a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
For fire risk assessment and fire safety management solutions click Fire Risk Assessment. Workplace Law Consultancy Services can provide solutions for all your fire safety requirements; from fire risk assessment, warden training, emergency plans and Fire Safety Management System Support. The services are of benefit to health and safety managers, facilities managers and fire wardens in all organisations in enabling them to understand their responsibilities for fire safety, and put in place measures to control the risks of fire as required under new legislation.