Facilitator s Guide for Recipe for Safer Cooking Lesson Objectives: Participants will: increase awareness of the dangers of cooking fires. Increase knowledge of how to prevent cooking fires. Increase knowledge of fire extinguishers for cooking fires. Increase knowledge of safety practices when cooking. Materials for Facilitators: Facilitator s Guide, Recipe for Safer Cooking Participant handout, Recipe for Safer Cooking, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, 1111 19 th Street, NW, Suite 402, Washington, D.C. 20036. Video, Safer Cooking with Caprial!, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, 1111 19 th Street, NW, Suite 402, Washington, D.C. 20036. (AHAM materials can be ordered on line at: http://www.aham.org/ht/d/store/name/firesafety/pid/) Some facilitators have printed posters from the power point slides from this website http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/ppt/cooking/fa-312-powerpoint.ppt, and used them with their presentation. Materials for Participants: Handout, Recipe for Safer Cooking, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, 1111 19 th Street, NW, Suite 402, Washington, D.C. 20036.\ Facilitators: Read through the background information in this facilitator s guide. This will help you understand the reason for this lesson. Be familiar with the contents of the facilitator s guide and the handout for participants, Recipe for Safer Cooking. Background information. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, cooking is the number one cause of residential fires in almost every state and locality. Nearly one third of all residential fires occur in the kitchen area. Also, cooking is the leading cause of injuries from residential fires, and no doubt the number of unreported injuries from cooking is very high. Fire officials estimate the number of unreported cooking fires may be as high as nine times the number of reported fires. Ten years ago, the National Association of State Fire Marshals and the Association of Home Appliance
Manufacturers formed a Cooking Fires Task Force. The task force investigated the behavioral dimensions of cooking fires. Here are some of the findings from this investigation: Unattended cooking was the most prominent factor, involved in almost two-thirds of cooking fires reported. Grease played a role in more than one-fourth of the fires. Food and combustible materials left on the range played a role in 10 percent of the fires. Half of the people, who attempted to put the fire out, used improper methods, such as putting water or flour on a grease fire. The group of 19 to 69 year olds particularly the 30 to 49 age group were involved in disproportionately more fires than their incidence in the population. Women were involved in 40 percent more cooking fires than men. 1 Minority households were disproportionately involved in cooking fires. For the purposes of this program, the facilitator will combine the video, Safer Cooking with Caprial, with information on fire extinguishers for the kitchen. It is strongly suggested that the facilitator invite the local fire department to participate in the presentation. It is recommended that you do this activity (as indicated in number 7 below), only with the help of a trained fire fighter. Presentation to Participants: 1. As facilitator, in your own words, explain the dangers of home fires, especially the high incidence of kitchen fires due to cooking. 2. Show participants the video, Safer Cooking with Caprial!. Explain to participants that the recipe used in the video was selected for demonstrating kitchen fire safety, and not for its nutritional value. 3. After the video, ask the participants to name the six points made in the video to help prevent a cooking fire in the kitchen. a. Keep an eye on the cooking and stay in the kitchen. b. Wear short or close fitting sleeves. c. Watch children closely; teach children to cook safely. d. Clean cooking surfaces to prevent food and grease build-up. e. Keep curtains, towels, and pot holders away from hot surfaces. f. Store solvents and flammable cleaners away from heat sources. Never keep gasoline in the house. g. Turn pan handles inward to prevent food spills. 4. Next, ask participants to name six points made about putting out a cooking fire. a. First, call the fire department immediately. 2
b. Slide a pan lid over flames to smother a grease or oil fire, then turn off the heat and leave the lid in place. Leave the pan in place. Never try to carry the pan to the sink or outside. c. Baking soda can also be used to extinguish all food fires. Never use flour on cooking fires. d. Keep the oven door shut and turn off the heat to smother an oven or broiler fire. e. Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. Make sure you have the right type of extinguisher and training on how to use it. f. Keep a working smoke detector in your home and test it monthly. 5. After going over the points made in the video, distribute the participant handout, Recipe for Safer Cooking. 6. Discuss possible fire extinguishers to have in the kitchen. a. Take a box of baking soda along to show participants that this is the least expensive fire extinguisher for grease and oil fires. b. Explain the ratings and sizes of commercial fire extinguishers. i. Explain that some extinguishers are for electrical fires, some are for flammable liquids (for example, grease and oil), and some are for ordinary materials such as paper, wood, and cloth. The type of fire it will extinguish is rated by a letter. 1. Class A extinguishers are for ordinary materials such as paper, cloth, and wood. 2. Class B extinguishers are for flammable liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, grease, and oil. 3. Class C extinguishers are for electrical equipment fires such as appliances, wiring, circuit breakers. NEVER use water to extinguish an electrical fire. The shock is too great! ii. Most residential fire extinguishers are rated A-B-C, for multi-purpose use. iii. Explain that fire extinguishers are rated by size, also. The number that is with the letter rating indicates the size of the fire that it will extinguish. Residential extinguishers come in two pound, five pound and ten pound sizes. A five pound extinguisher is the minimum size that should be purchased for the home. iv. When purchasing an extinguisher, make sure it is UL (Underwriters Laboratories) or F.M. (Factory Mutual Laboratories) approved. c. Extinguishers with these labels are manufactured to meet recognized safety and performance standards. d. Be sure participants know that a fire extinguisher is designed to reduce the chances of injury and death to those involved in a fire during the time it takes to leave the structure and for trained help to arrive to put out the fire. 3
7. Have a fire fighter demonstrate how to use a fire extinguisher. Next, have the participants practice using a fire extinguisher with the help of a trained fire fighter. 8. Record participant responses on the Kitchen Fire Safety questionnaire and give each participant a KISS and Tell card along with a chocolate kiss. Ask them to take the card home, do a home inspection and return the card to the local Extension Office. References: 1 Ten Community Study of the Behaviors and Profiles of People Involved in Residential Cooking Fires, Executive Summary, National Association of Fire Marshals Cooking Fires Task Force, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers Safe Cooking Campaign, July 1996. Recipe for Safer Cooking, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, 111 19 th Street, NS, Suite 402, Washington, D.C. 20036, 1997. Doss, Howard J. Fire Extinguisher Selection, Location and Use, National Ag Safety Database, Center for Michigan Agricultural Safety and Health, 1994. Product Safety Tips: Household Fire Extinguishers, Underwriters Laboratories, 2008. United States Fire Administration, How to Prevent Cooking Fires and Related Injuries, a power point presentation, 2008. Suzanne B. Badenhop, PhD Extension Professor/Management and Equipment August 2008 Copyright 2008 for materials developed by University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. This publication may be reproduced in portions or its entirety for educational or nonprofit purposes only. Permitted users shall give credit to the author(s) and include this copyright notice. Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin. 4
Recipe for Safer Cooking Evaluation KISS and Tell Card Print the following information on a stamped pre-addressed (to the program facilitator) postcard. Give the cards to the program participants along with a chocolate kiss. Ask each participant to go home and inspect their kitchen, then return the stamped, pre-addressed cards. Kitchen Inspection for Safety Solutions I have removed fire hazards from around my stove (papers, fabrics, food spilled in drip pans) My oven and microwave are free of excessive food spills I checked my smoke detector battery I have a plan for extinguishing cooking fires I have a working fire extinguisher I know how to use my fire extinguisher Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.
Total number of participants How many of you have experienced a cooking fire? (Any time you had unwanted flames, no matter how small.) How many of you have 1 or more smoke detectors in your home? How many of you have changed the batteries in your smoke detector in the last year? How many of you have a fire extinguisher in your home? How many of you have ever actually used a fire extinguisher? (Before today.)