If you are thinking about starting a takeaway restaurant, it can be great fun. It can also be very hard work, but many people do not think about risks of owning a takeaway until the worst happens. The best ways to protect your business are to use diligence to foresee and prevent accidents, prepare for accidents and to have really good insurance in the event accidents happen.

There are many things you can do to protect your business against accidents and law suits, but it is still absolutely necessary to make sure your business is insured with specialised restaurant insurance.

 

Takeaway restaurant insurance will protect against public liability. Generally catering businesses have similarities in their trading conditiona and if you have a takeaway you will want to be looking at some type of fast food insurance policy to protect your building, your stock and your money in the event of fire, theft or vandalism. The

 

 

Kitchen Safety Check List
• Always check your restaurant kitchen personally to make sure that all electrical and gas appliances are turned off at closing time.

• Make sure your employees are competent every day. If an employee comes in drunk, send him home. If an employee comes in sick, send them home. If an employee seems distraught or emotionally stressed, make sure they are calm before starting work. Take time to check on all your employees and make sure they are operating at optimal effectiveness each day.

• Make sure that the heat in the kitchen is not so miserable that employees cannot think clearly or are ready to pass out from the heat. Keep the kitchen as comfortable as possible.

• Instruct every employee carefully in the use of every piece of equipment they could be using. Make sure they understand and can use equipment safely.

• Check behind employees to make sure they operate all equipment safely, and remind them of safety precautions. You don’t have to be harsh or a threatening figure to them. It’s better if you are nice about it, but make sure they understand the potential dangers of using each piece of equipment.

• Keep a first aid kit easily accessible for minor injuries and sudden illnesses

• Keep emergency contact information on each employee easily accessible in the event they are seriously injured at work.

• Avoid mopping floors during business hours, and if it becomes necessary, block off the areas mopped with yellow plastic warning signs until they are dry.

• Inspect your building for structural defect. If you have stairways and balconies, check the railings to make sure they wouldn’t give even with a lot of weight against them.

• Make sure the stairs and steps are sound, and always free of clutter. Consider painting the edge of steps with yellow stripes to make customers more aware of them.

• Make sure that all electrical wiring is done to code with the help of a licensed electrician.
Food Safety

• Check freezer and refrigeration unit temperatures regularly with thermometers. In addition research to find automatic sensors to alarm if the temperature rises beyond safe limits.

• Establish a daily routine of inspecting food storage to insure freshness.

• Throw away spoiled or questionable food promptly.

• Stay alert to re-calls and risks in any food you serve.

• Stock the right anti-microbial cleaners to minimise contamination from specific meats and seafood you sell.

• Seafood and meats can be dangerous if handled improperly, make sure your cooks know how to manage these foods, and insure that they wipe counters with anti microbial cleaners after any possible contact with raw meat or fish, and before exposing fresh food to kitchen surfaces.

• Store food containers separately from cleaners, and make sure their packaging is not similar. If necessary, provide additional labeling to cleaning products to keep them from being mistaken for food ingredients.

Of course any kind of takeaway restaurant liability insurance is going to help support your business and allow it to trade if there is a significant claim against you. Because of the litigious society we find ourrselves in today, it is difficult to imagine trading without this type of cover.

Call us for a Takeaway Restaurant & Liability Insurance Today on 0845 226 8559

Mon – Fri 9.00am to 5.00pm