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EQUIPMENT SAFETY

FOR FOOD WORKERS

ELECTRIC OVERVIEW

Safety Precautions

Always use care with electrical equipment.

1. Get to know the circuit breaker* and how to use it.
   Each circuit breaker stops the line of electricity from coming into the kitchen and going to a piece of electrical equipment or a group of appliances. When you switch the circuit breaker for a specific piece of equipment OFF, you stop the electricity from going to that equipment.
   • Make sure that all circuit breakers are correctly labeled. If the circut breaker is not labeled tell your supervisor
   • When you shut off power at the circuit breaker box, tell all other employees that you are doing so. If more than one piece of equipment is on that circuit, someone can be seriously injured if the circuit breaker switch is turned ON or OFF.
2. Check cords, wires and plugs for safety.

   TELL YOUR SUPERVISOR IF YOU SEE:

   • Frayed wires.
   • Cords in high traffic areas.
   • Cords pinched against walls or furniture, or run across doorways.
   • Overloaded electrical outlets.
   • Plugs altered in any way.
3. Make sure all electrical equipment is properly installed and properly grounded*.
4. Before you put together, clean or take apart electrical equipment, always
   • Follow lockout/tagout* procedures for your facility.
   • Turn off the appliance.
   • Turn off the circuit breaker, wall switch or disconnect from the electrical outlet.
5. When you clean electrical equipment,
   • Do not put motors or pumps in water.
   • Use a damp (not wet) cloth.
6. Immediately unplug the appliance or turn off the circuit breaker if you:
   • Feel a tingle when you touch an electrical appliance.
   • See lights flicker.
   • Smell smoke or strange odors.
   • Know equipment is not running properly.
   THEN, TELL YOUR SUPERVISOR.

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DEFINITIONS

• Circuit Breaker - A circuit breaker automatically stops the flow of electricity when the electric circuit gets overloaded. You can also switch off a circuit breaker by hand at any time.
• Grounded - Equipment is grounded when the electrical current is connected to an object (like a wire or round prong on a three-pronged plug) that carries the current away from the equipment. This reduces energy between the earth and the equipment, and helps prevent electric shock or fires.
• Lockout/Tagout - The standard that covers the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment in which the unexpected energization or start up of the machine or equipment, or release of stored energy could cause injury to employees.

**The Equipment Safety fact sheets are general guidelines. Final procedures for safe equipment operation and cleaning should follow the manufacturer's specifications. Check the manufacturer's manual at your site or ask your supervisor for specific equipment details .