SPECIAL: INNOVATION
THE PEOPLE EDITION
If you can’t stand the
heat, redesign the kitchen
Infamously known as inhospitable working environments, many professional kitchens are now changing to become healthier, more comfortable places to work. Jim Banks considers the drivers of changing attitudes and what such kitchens might look like in practice
I
n the past, the stereotypical commercial kitchen was cramped, hot, noisy and uncomfortable. To some, that was part of its appeal – a challenge to be endured in the name of fi ne food. Now, with a labor shortage and greater insight into the health hazards posed by such environments, attitudes are changing. Today, the focus is on creating kitchens with the wellbeing of staff in mind, though this trend is not entirely new. “Even in medieval times they put wooden fl oors down so the cold didn’t get into chefs’ bones,” says Frank Wagner FCSI of German consultancy K’Drei and the chair of FCSI for Germany and Austria.
112
“The concept is simple,” he adds. “Make enough space for people to work, with enough light and ventilation, clean air to breathe, a comfortable temperature and an acceptable level of noise. And give people the right tools – equipment that does not break all the time and that is easy to clean. A cheap kitchen means you will lose labor or your quality will not be good enough. A better kitchen means you can fi nd the right people.” There is a regulatory drive to make kitchens more hospitable. In California the Indoor Heat Illness Regulations require employers to implement control measures for any work areas where the heat index exceeds 87˚F (30˚C). But that is only one reason operators are looking closely at staff wellbeing. “People say it is a regulatory drive or because of complaints from workers about the hostile environment but I don’t buy either of those,” says Paul Bartlett FCSI, of US-based KitchenSolutions Consulting. “The biggest change is that the kitchen is now a legitimate place where aspiring artisans can do artistic work as a chef. Once people aspired to be leading guitar players, now they want to be chefs.”
“It does matter to operators,” he adds. “The days of chefs throwing knives at you are over. Restaurants try to treat staff well to retain employees as you need a good team in order to win in this industry. So, you need to create a good place to work.” In fact, the labor shortage is probably
a more powerful driver than anything else. “The next generation is coming,” says
Andrey Livchak, director of global R&D at ventilation company Halton. “People consider kitchens to be a hot place and
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132
