Restaurant First Aid and Fire Safety Basics

In short: work out what first aid and fire precautions your own restaurant needs, write the plan, tell every member of staff where things are and what to do, and check it regularly. In Great Britain that means a first aid needs assessment, a stocked kit and an appointed person. In England and Wales it also means a fire risk assessment by the responsible person.

About 8 minutes to read. General information as of October 2026, not legal or medical advice. Check your local authority, fire service and national regulator.

A restaurant puts people, heat, knives, wet floors, gas, oil and crowds in the same room. Most services pass without incident. The ones that do not are rarely about heroics: they are decided by whether somebody knew where the kit was, whether the exit was clear and whether the team had thought about it beforehand.

This guide is a practical starting point. It focuses on the rules published for Great Britain, because they are clear and public, and shows how to adapt the approach elsewhere.

First aid: what the rules say

HSE (the Health and Safety Executive) sets out the employer's first aid duties for Great Britain:

• Employers must make sure employees get immediate attention if they are taken ill or injured at work. Provision must be adequate and appropriate in the circumstances.
• You decide what is adequate by assessing your workplace, workforce, hazards and risks: work patterns, the chance that first aiders are absent, accident history and lone or remote working. HSE does not prescribe the provision, and you do not have to record the assessment, though recording it helps show your reasoning.
• The minimum for every workplace is a suitably stocked first aid kit, an appointed person to look after the arrangements, and information for all employees about the arrangements.
• An appointed person looks after equipment and facilities and calls the emergency services when needed. No formal training is required for this role, but someone must be available whenever people are at work.
• Trained first aiders are needed where your assessment, or higher risks, call for them. There are no fixed numbers.
• Since 1 October 2013, HSE no longer approves training providers, so you must check that the provider you choose is competent.
• Provide at least one first aid kit per workplace, keep it easy to reach, check it often and restock it after use.
• Report and record injuries, incidents and work related diseases under RIDDOR. If you have more than 10 employees, keep an accident book. Store records confidentially.
• The law covers employees; HSE strongly recommends including non-employees such as guests in your assessment.

Other countries have their own rules. Ask your national or local workplace safety regulator.

Doing a first aid needs assessment for a restaurant

Walk the premises with the head chef and a front of house lead and answer these questions:

1. What can go wrong here? Cuts, burns and scalds, slips, strains from lifting, allergic reactions, choking, fainting, injuries from broken glass.
2. Who is on site, and when? Late shifts, split shifts, delivery drivers, cleaners who come in alone at night.
3. How far is help? Distance to the nearest hospital or ambulance station, and whether the premises are hard to find at night.
4. How many people? Staff plus guests. A packed dining room has different needs from a quiet kitchen at 6am.
5. Who can act? Whether the person who knows the kit is actually there for each shift. The team rota is the practical test: if there is a shift with nobody trained, you have a gap. DineHarbor's team and shifts tools can show who is on at what time.
6. What would the guests need? Allergic reactions, fainting or choking can happen to anyone at a table.

Write the answers on one page, date it and review it when the layout, staff numbers or menu changes. HSE says the assessment need not be recorded, but a short record is cheap protection.

What to put in place

• A kit that is stocked, sealed and easy to reach: kitchens often keep one near the pass and one front of house. Your assessment and HSE's guidance help you decide what goes in. Check it monthly and restock after use.
• An appointed person for every shift, named on a notice.
• Trained first aiders if your assessment says so, with a reasonable spread across shifts, and a check that your training provider is competent.
• A way to call for help: the emergency number, the premises address in writing by the phone and a person who meets the ambulance at the door.
• An accident book or digital record, and a manager who knows what must be reported under RIDDOR.
• A plan for allergic reactions: what your team does while waiting for the ambulance. See allergen training for staff.
• A mental health thought. HSE suggests you consider whether first aiders need mental health training and how they can reach professional help.

Fire safety: who is responsible

GOV.UK explains that for non-domestic premises in England and Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules), the "responsible person" is anyone with control of the premises, such as an employer, owner, landlord or occupier. If there is more than one, they must work together. The responsible person must:

• carry out a fire risk assessment and review it regularly;
• tell staff, or their representatives, about the risks found;
• put in place and maintain appropriate fire safety measures;
• plan for an emergency;
• give staff fire safety information, instruction and training.

Failing to follow the rules can lead to fines or prison, and local fire and rescue authorities can inspect premises and issue notices requiring changes. If you rent, read your lease and talk to your landlord about who does what for shared areas such as stairs, flats above and shared kitchens.

Writing the fire risk assessment

The assessment is a plan, not a certificate. Structure it simply:

1. Find the ignition sources. Cooking equipment, fryers, grills, gas supplies, electrical equipment, heaters, candles, smoking areas, charging batteries for tablets, scooters or e-bikes.
2. Find what can burn. Cooking oil, packaging, paper, cardboard stored in the kitchen or corridors, rubbish, soft furnishings, decorations.
3. Find who is at risk. Staff, guests, people with disabilities, people unfamiliar with the building, children, cleaners at night.
4. Evaluate and reduce the risk. Maintenance schedules, extraction cleaning, safe storage, keeping flammables away from heat, tidy routes.
5. Plan for escape. Exits and routes, alarms and warning, lighting, signs, assembly points, what happens during service.
6. Record, inform, instruct and train. Write down what you found and tell the team.
7. Review. Whenever something changes: layout, equipment, a new fryer, a new menu with flambé, an event.

Everyday habits that matter

• Keep exits clear and unlocked while people are inside. Do not stack deliveries in a corridor, even for ten minutes.
• Clean extraction and grease build up on the schedule your plan sets. See the cleaning schedule.
• Switch off and check equipment at close. Put it on the closing checklist. See opening and closing checklists.
• Keep extinguishers and alarms maintained as your assessment and your local authority require, and make sure the right people know how to use them.
• Store cardboard and oil away from heat.
• Know your gas and electricity cut offs. Mark them clearly and make sure more than one person knows where they are.
• Be careful with events. Extra tables, decorations and candles change the risk. See also insurance, because your insurer may have its own conditions.

Train and practise

• Induction: show every new starter the exits, the assembly point, the extinguishers and the first aid kit on day one. See staff onboarding.
• Briefing: once a month, in the pre service huddle, name the exits and the person in charge of an evacuation.
• Drills: practise an evacuation. The GOV.UK page does not give a fixed interval, so decide in your assessment and ask your local fire service. Make sure the drill includes guests and the kitchen, and time it.
• Roles: decide who calls the emergency number, who checks toilets and storerooms, who takes the booking list or order list to the assembly point, and who meets the fire service.
• Records: write down the date and what you learnt.

Keep the paperwork in one place

Create one folder, on paper or on a shared drive, with: the first aid needs assessment, the fire risk assessment, the list of appointed persons and first aiders, training records, the accident book, equipment service dates and the drill log. If an officer visits, you can hand it over. Put review dates in the calendar. See licences and permits for the rest of the paperwork.

Common mistakes

• Buying a kit and forgetting to restock it.
• Having trained first aiders, but none on the late shift.
• Blocking a fire exit with deliveries or chairs.
• Writing a fire risk assessment once and never reviewing it.
• Training the team once and forgetting new starters.
• Assuming the landlord looks after the shared areas.
• Copying another restaurant's plan without walking your own premises.

A checklist

1. Walk the premises and write a first aid needs assessment.
2. Provide a kit, an appointed person and information for staff.
3. Train first aiders where the assessment says so, with a competent provider.
4. Identify the responsible person for fire safety.
5. Write and review the fire risk assessment.
6. Keep exits and routes clear and equipment maintained.
7. Induct and drill the team, and record it.
8. Check the rules with your local authority and fire service.

Sources

• UK Health and Safety Executive, first aid at work: what employers need to do, as of October 2026.
• GOV.UK, workplace fire safety: your responsibilities, as of October 2026.
• Your local fire and rescue service and local authority for the rules where you operate.

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