Cooking is fun, but kitchen safety is a priority. Think about it: Knives! Fire! Bacteria! Observing basic rules of kitchen safety is a good habit to develop. Always pay attention to what you’re doing in the kitchen because one slip can cause serious injury or accidents.

• Store knives in a wooden block or in a drawer. Make sure the knives are out of the reach of children.

• Never cook in loose clothes and keep long hair tied back. You don’t want anything accidentally catching fire (not to mention hair ending up in the food!).

• Never cook while wearing dangling jewelry. A bracelet can get tangled around pot handles.

• Keep potholders nearby and use them! Be careful not to leave them near an open flame.

• Turn pot handles away from the front of the stove. Children can’t grab them, and adults can’t bump into them if they’re out of the way.

• Don’t let temperature-sensitive foods sit out in the kitchen. Raw meat, fish, and certain dairy products can spoil quickly, so refrigerate or freeze them right away.

• Wipe up spills immediately. Keep the floor dry so that no one slips and falls.

• Separate raw meat and poultry from other items whenever you use or store them. This precaution avoids cross-contamination of harmful bacteria from one food to another.

• Wash your hands before handling food and after handling meat or poultry. Hands can be a virtual freight train of bacteria.

• Get a fire extinguisher for your kitchen. This device may not do much for your cherries jubilee, but it can avert a disaster. Make sure you know how to use it before a fire breaks out. You can’t waste any time reading the directions amidst the flames.

• http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/basic-rules-of-kitchen-safety.html