Kitchen Electrical Safety

Ground or double insulate toasters, blenders, hand mixers, fans, and refrigerators. Check all personal items to ensure proper grounding for industrial application. Remove power before adjusting or cleaning equipment. 

Never plug in an electrical appliance or equipment with wet hands. 

Never stand in water while around electrical equipment. 

Install ground fault circuit interrupter in all wet areas. 

Install receptacle boxes made of nonconductive materials. 

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The main electrical consideration is safety. The electrical service in the kitchen and bathroom must incorporate ground-fault monitors as required by local codes. Additional consideration involves the accessibility of switches and outlets. Lighting is also a factor in meeting the needs of the visually impaired. 

Electric DisposaL A disposer can be installed in any sink that has a full-size drain opening. For an assistive kitchen design, switch location, safety, and disposal location are the main design objectives. The on and off switch should be placed in an accessible area, possibly under the front lip of the countertop. Care should be taken not to position the switch where a wheelchair can accidentally bump the switch while the person is washing the dishes. It should also be located so that a person cannot contact the sink and switch at the same time. The electrical connection should be away from the water line and should be protected with a conduit pipe to eliminate any shock hazard. The disposal should be located away from any wheelchair-accessible area. 

The concept of a passive-safety reactor KAMADO (in Japanese a Japanese traditional kitchen range for cooking with firewood) was proposed in 2001 by the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), Japan. The KAMADO concept is based on a synthesis of the design approaches used in light water reactors, the heavy water reactor FUGEN [Xni-1] and pool type research reactors. 

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