Operators reminded of facility management responsibilities following technician death

Hospitality operators are being encouraged to ensure their facilities management meets the required standards after the tragic death of a foodservice equipment technician.

The engineer was electrocuted while working in a commercial kitchen and the subsequent court case in 2023 highlighted issues concerning the responsibilities of various parties, including hospitality venues.

CEDA, the trade body for commercial foodservice equipment specialists, is aiming to help the industry learn lessons from the fatal incident and has published a code of practice which identifies the competences of the foodservice equipment technician and those of the kitchen operator and other stakeholders in any venue.

The guide specifies that operators should have their electrical fixed wiring installation checked and certified by a qualified electrician for safety at least once a year.

When installing new electrical catering equipment, venues should pass on details of the appliance to a qualified electrician to ensure that the electrical circuit is checked as being suitable and safe, and have this confirmed in writing.

Operators should also have their catering equipment checked for safety at least once a year by a foodservice equipment technician.

CEDA’s code of practice also features several examples of test procedures.

The association warned that many operators appear to believe that the ‘service engineer’ is responsible for the whole electrical installation in a commercial kitchen, but this is not the case.

While most foodservice equipment technicians are gas safe registered, very few are qualified electricians.

However, they are trained to carry out limited electrical work including safe isolation, earth continuity testing and insulation resistance testing to enable them to safely install electrical catering equipment.

Wherever possible, technicians are trained to work with the main power switched off, though part of their training involves working safely on live equipment, particularly when fault finding.

The code of practice is available free of charge and can be downloaded from the CEDA website.