Burning Hand
Friday, May 10, 2019
By Aimee Sterk, LMSW, MATP Staff
I’m a fairly accident-prone person. Add that to my recent age-related changes in vision and my already narrow field of vision and lack of depth perception due to one of my disabilities, and I’ve been getting burned in the kitchen even more lately.
I was sitting through a great webinar on kitchen safety this week and looked down at the matching burn marks across the base of both of my thumbs, snapped a picture and sent it to my colleague who was also on the webinar saying I needed the information for myself, not just for work.
Amanda TePastte, OTR, from Disability Advocates of Kent County was leading the webinar and shared some AT that I will be adding to my house to help keep me safe. Our partners throughout the state are now able to present this training on AT for Kitchen Safety. Connect with the site nearest you if you are interested in learning more yourself or a group you are affiliated with.
Tops on my list to prevent burns in my kitchen:
Oven rack guards: The pair of silicone oven rack guards that Amanda showed in her presentation look so useful in preventing burns from my hands hitting the grates in the oven. I used to have a set of guards made of fabric that withstands high temperature that snapped on to my oven racks, but the snaps eventually rusted and wore out so the fabric protector was hanging off in spots. This silicone set doesn’t have any snaps and is easy to install.
Oven rack push/pull: Most of my burns have come from getting things in and out of the oven, reaching into the oven and misjudging distance and hitting my hands on hot pans or the racks. I can use an oven rack push/pull to pull the oven racks out over the open oven door and put items closer in reach to more safely pick them up.
Food Pod: Last year I sustained 2nd degree burns on my wrist after dropping half of a pot filled with boiling water and potatoes. A food pod allows you to boil food in a silicone pouch that you pull out of the boiling water instead of transporting pots of boiling water across the kitchen to drain. Sign me up!
These items are also available for demonstration from our partners around the state.
What AT needs do you have for kitchen safety? What AT has worked for you in the kitchen?