Hot, wet, fast and full of new starters — one of the hardest places to keep training on track
Hospitality is one of New Zealand's biggest employers, with mostly part-time staff, late nights and high turnover — so safety training often gets rushed. The injuries that dominate are burns and scalds, slips and trips, and cuts, plus manual-handling strain. Add young and casual workers and late-night lone work, and the priority is a simple induction that actually happens for every new starter.
It's not that the risks are exotic — it's that the conditions make it hard to stay on top of them.
Hospitality is fast-paced, hot, wet and crowded, and most workers are part-time, working nights and weekends. With high staff turnover, induction and training are easy to rush or skip — just when new starters are at their most vulnerable. Your HSWA duty also reaches beyond your own staff to customers, visitors and the public, so the bar isn't just “don't burn the chef” — it's a safe space for everyone in it.
A handful of hazards account for most of the harm in cafes, restaurants and bars.
| Hazard | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Burns & scalds | Hot surfaces, boiling liquids, steam and hot oil — to hands, arms and face. |
| Slips & trips | Wet or greasy floors, spills and clutter — the most common cause of major kitchen injuries. |
| Cuts | Knives, slicers, mandolins and broken glass. |
| Manual handling | Lifting stock and kegs, carrying trays, repetitive prep — causing musculoskeletal strain. |
| Hazardous substances | Cleaning and sanitising chemicals. |
| Late-night & lone work | Closing up alone, and the risk of confrontation or violence. |
| Heat stress | Long shifts in hot kitchens. |
Tackle these well and you've covered most of what sends hospitality workers to the doctor.
For burns, keep pot handles turned in, warn about steam, and move and change hot oil carefully. For slips, use slip-resistant flooring and non-slip footwear, clean spills immediately, and keep walkways clear of boxes and cables. For cuts, keep knives sharp and stored safely, guard slicers, and handle and dispose of glass with care. None of this is expensive — it's mostly habit, layout and a few simple rules that everyone follows.
In a sector built on young, casual and new staff, who you protect matters as much as what you control.
High turnover is exactly why a short, consistent induction for every new starter — before their first real shift — matters so much; our young & new workers guide covers why the first weeks are the riskiest. Think too about whoever closes up alone late at night: a way to summon help and a plan for confrontation is part of the job, which the lone & remote worker guide unpacks.
Consistent inductions and simple hazard controls in one place. Book a demo and we'll show you how it works — free 30-day trial included.
Burns and scalds, slips and trips, and cuts dominate in kitchens, with slips and trips being the most common cause of major injury. Manual-handling strain is also common, particularly in accommodation. Most are preventable with simple controls.
Because most workers are part-time and work nights and weekends, and high staff turnover means induction and training are often rushed or overlooked — right when new starters are most at risk. A short, consistent induction that happens for every new starter is the single biggest fix.
Use slip-resistant floor coverings and require non-slip footwear, clean spills immediately, and keep walkways clear of boxes, bags and cables. Good slip prevention goes hand in hand with general kitchen hygiene and tidiness.
Yes. Under the HSWA you must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and that others — customers, visitors, children and the public — aren't put at risk by your work. So your controls need to protect everyone in the venue, not just staff.
Late-night and lone work carries a risk of confrontation or violence, so give those workers a reliable way to summon help and a plan for handling confrontation, including cash-handling procedures. Manage it like any other risk — assess it, control it, and make sure someone will respond.
