Whether you’ve just moved into a new house or have refurbished your home with modern fixtures and fittings, you are probably very excited about the new look and are thrilled at having a new kitchen. Every household needs the right kitchen after having considered factors such as accessibility, versatility and of course durability of the fittings and cabinets. However, simply having the perfect kitchen does not ensure that you will always be happy with it. The most important factor that you need to keep in mind while designing your kitchen and even after you have completed the new kitchen is safety. This should always be your priority, regardless of whether or not you have kids who are too young to understand the dangers of certain kitchen fittings and appliances. Adults too can often be quite reckless in the kitchen. Ensuring safety in your kitchen at all times could however, be a bit tricky. Here are few tips to help you keep your kitchen a safer place.

1. One of the most basic tips on safety is to keep all sharp objects such as knives, forks and anything with pointed ends, out of the reach of children. It is very common for parents to simply keep these objects lying around the kitchen especially if they are interrupted while they are cooking. Always keep an eye out for such objects as it is not just your kids, but even you, who could get hurt by leaving them lying around.

2. Always ensure that you have a smoke alarm fixed in your kitchen. It is a very common occurrence for adults to leave something on the fire and forget about it, only to set your kitchen on fire. This could also happen as a result of your kids playing around with the stove. A smoke alarm will therefore ensure that you are alerted wherever you are at home.

3. You would need to check all your appliances such as microwaves and gas ovens for any leakages. Do this at least once every few weeks.

4. It is best that you always have fire resistant surfaces around the area of your stove, in order to prevent any accidents from occurring. You should also remember not to store any flammable substances even in cupboards close to this area.

5. You should always have items such as a fire extinguisher and a medical kit somewhere close to your kitchen so that you could get to it quickly and easily, should something go wrong.

6. Always ensure that your floors are clean. If there are any spills, ensure that you clean them up immediately.

7. Any storage cabinet containing cleaning liquids or sharp objects must always be kept locked.

8. There are certain safety standards that every household must stick to. This would include keeping your kitchen free of all types of contamination. This could particularly occur if you do not clean the surfaces of your kitchen often, or have a lot of waste lying around.

Kitchen cupboards too must be placed according to these safety standards. You would need to ask your cabinet makers whether the cabinets have been made by meeting all Australian design and safety standards. This would save you from a lot of trouble.

9. Any storage cupboards that will not be used often must be placed several metres off the ground.

10. Cabinets placed on floor level must maintain a certain distance in areas beneath the sink, and so on. These standards can be found on the government website which you may want to read through well.