3 ways to automate a kitchen risk assessment

#1 - Simple assessment

Who it's for: Single-site kitchens recording the kitchen risk assessment themselves, where you know the kitchen and just need a clear, structured record.

What it is: A kitchen risk assessment records each kitchen hazard, the people it could harm, the controls in place, and any further action. This version is structured around the 11 areas a commercial kitchen needs to cover: slips, trips and falls, manual handling, contact with steam, hot water, oil and surfaces, knives, food handling, contact with chemicals, gas, electrical, fire, equipment, and other hazards. Each area is a small group of three prompts written for that area. Knives asks you to identify the knife hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, and evaluate the knife risks and decide on precautions; Gas asks about the gas hazards and who is at risk from an explosion or carbon monoxide poisoning; and so on through all 11, so every question tells you exactly what it's about. A kitchen risk assessment falls under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and any employer with five or more staff must record the findings.

In practice: A single-site kitchen works down the 11 areas. Under Knives: the hazards (dull blades, loose storage), who's at risk (chefs and prep staff), and the precautions (weekly sharpening, magnetic racks, cut-resistant gloves for high-risk tasks). Under Gas: the ranges and ovens checked, the last Gas Safe service confirmed, and the emergency shut-off location known to the team. Three short answers per area, and the whole kitchen gets covered.

Why it works: The 11 areas are the spread of hazards a commercial kitchen actually has, so nothing gets missed: general hazards like slips and manual handling sit alongside kitchen-specific ones like knives, gas and hot equipment. And splitting each area into three prompts means nobody has to remember what a good answer contains; the structure asks for hazards, people, and precautions separately, which is what makes the record defensible.

Steps included:

• 11 assessment areas: general kitchen hazards (slips, trips and falls, manual handling) alongside kitchen-specific hazards (steam and hot surfaces, knives, food handling, chemicals, gas, electrical, fire, equipment) and other hazards
• Each area is a group of 3 prompts written for it: identify the hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate the risks and decide on precautions

#2 - With guidance

Who it's for: Kitchens where a manager, not a food safety specialist, completes the assessment and needs the method in front of them.

What it is: The same 11 areas and three prompts, but each area's group now carries its own written guidance: why that area matters and what to check before you answer. The knives group carries the sharpening schedule, storage and cut-resistant gloves; the gas group carries servicing, leak recognition and the emergency shut-off; the fire group carries extraction cleaning, suppression and drill frequency.

What it adds to the simple assessment:

1. Guidance for every area, on screen exactly where you answer it
2. What to check before answering, not just a blank box
3. An assessment that's consistent whoever completes it

Why it works: Generic guidance at the top of a form gets skimmed once and forgotten by area 8. Guidance attached to each area gets read at the moment it's needed, so a manager who isn't a food safety specialist still asks the right questions about PAT testing dates, allergen rotation, and extraction cleaning.

Steps included:

• The 11 assessment areas, each a group of 3 prompts
• 11 guidance notes, one per area: why it matters and what to check

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Kitchens that want visual proof of every area's condition alongside the written record.

What it is: The same 11 areas and three prompts, but each area's group now carries a photo step. As you assess each area you photograph it: the fuse board, the knife storage, the extraction hood, the chemical store. The record shows the condition of each area at the time, not just a description of it.

In practice: A restaurant kitchen manager works through the assessment with their phone. At Knives they photograph the sharpened set in its magnetic rack; at Equipment, the guarded slicer; at Fire, the serviced extinguisher with its tag visible. Every answer now has a picture next to it.

What it adds to the simple assessment:

1. A photo per area, captured as you assess it
2. Proof of conditions that holds up to an inspector, not just a written claim
3. A visual baseline to compare against at the next review

Why it works: A written assessment says the extraction hood was clean; a photo shows it. When the assessment is reviewed next year, the photos also show what changed. And because the photo step sits with its area, the evidence files itself against the right hazard instead of landing in a camera roll.

Steps included:

• The 11 assessment areas, each a group of 3 prompts
• 11 photo steps, one per area: the hazard or the control in place, captured at the time

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know our product to choose. Every version here is the same 11-area assessment; the additions change who can run it and what the record proves.

Do other people run the assessment?

If you run it yourself and know the kitchen, the plain steps are enough: #1. The moment a manager who isn't a food safety specialist does it, the guidance needs to be on screen next to each area: #2.

Do you need photo proof?

A written assessment meets the duty; photos show the actual condition of each area. If a written record is enough, #1 or #2. If you want the knife storage, the extraction hood, and the chemical store on camera next to their answers, #3.

Need both? Open the version that matters most in the playground and add the other's steps. That is how the product works anyway: every option here is the same assessment with steps added.

Related workflows

• Knives risk assessment - the cut hazards in their own detail
• COSHH risk assessment - the cleaning chemicals side
• Fire risk assessment - the building-wide fire risks, including kitchen sources

Conclusion

A commercial kitchen packs more hazards into a small space than almost any workplace, and the risk assessment is what proves you've managed them. Every version above is the same 11 areas a kitchen risk assessment should cover, each a group of three prompts; the additions put guidance or a photo inside every area's group. Pick the one your business needs and build on it in the playground.

→ Build your own kitchen risk assessment on Pilla.