School oven

[david s]

Re: School oven

You can be flippant about it, but children who are not supervised adequately love to play with fire. especially in company with others, they love to impress each other. I have images of a child running around the schoolyard with a burning stick.
In our litigious society someone is likely to be held responsible. I would love to build a WFO at our school, but have so far been reluctant because of potential problems.

I do take my mobile oven to our school a few times a year and cook pizzas, but I never leave the fire unattended like I would do at home. The risks at school and home are quite different.

[david s]

Re: School oven

Normal fire code would apply. I work in a school and legally we can't have any ceramic fibre as children are more susceptible. On a practical level they are probably more at risk than adults from emissions from the smoke. Many children are also dangerous risk takers and untrustworthy and those characteristics combined with fire are a potent combination.

I've been teaching for a long time and have therefore learned to look ahead to foresee problems that might arise. This partially true story is one possible scenario.

A school was fortunate enough to have a wood fired oven built for them by a teacher with a passion for wood fired oven cooking. A few years later a young enthusiastic, inexperienced teacher decided to organize a pizza party for her class. The pizzas were wonderful even if some of them were a bit burnt or partially covered in ash. Following their excellent feast, she decided it would be fun to toast some marshmallows on satay sticks over the now dying coals. The children were having a wonderful time and the teacher was congratulating herself on a job well done so began fussing around cleaning up.
Little Harry got his marshmallow a little too close to the fire and it burst into flame so he quickly removed it, waving it around and blowing on it in an effort to extinguish the flames. His four friends rocked with hilarious laughter thinking it was a huge joke. Not wanting to miss out on any of the fun they too plunged their marshmallows into the fire and began waving them around.
Harry’s friend Billy discovered that the bendy satay stick made an ideal propulsion unit and soon flaming little gooey fireballs were flying everywhere. Fortunately or miraculously, no one got burnt. Unfortunately no one noticed the mini incendiary bomb that was flicked up onto the roof landing neatly into the guttering that was full of dry leaves.
The happy but oblivious teacher having cleared everything away neatly, dismissed the children and went home satisfied, silently congratulating herself on a job well done…
until she was woken at 2 am by the firebrigade informing her that the school was engulfed in flames.

[michelevit]

Re: School oven

Like I said before.
Way Too Dangerous!
Youtube fortunately has many videos on roasting marshmallows.
Just show a video instead. Much much safer. Individuals can even hold chopsticks with cotton balls placed at the end of chopsticks to simulate roasting marshmallows!
Hopefully they know better than eat the cotton 'marshmallow!'

Thanks you good sir for educating us on the risks and dangers of everyday life.
We can never be too safe!!!

[brickie in oz]

Re: School oven

with cotton balls placed at the end of chopsticks

Save the cotton balls for wrapping the precious little kiddies in.

[Moley]

Re: School oven

Hi all,
I am planning to build a wfo in our primary school, using as many students as practically possible. We run an amazing kitchen garden programme here where students up to grade 6 are involved in growing, harvesting ang preparing meals.They use garden tools, kitchen utensils, all under strict supervision and love every minute of it. We are educating life-long learners and not a laptop or text book in sight. I am willing to bet that the students won't forget the experience!

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: School oven

Ceramic fibre is only "hazardous" once it has been fired and the binders have burnt out, so I really cant see an issue with it. No more dangerous than insulation in the roof of your school, or the carpet in your house.

[david s]

Re: School oven

Ceramic fibre is only "hazardous" once it has been fired and the binders have burnt out, so I really cant see an issue with it. No more dangerous than insulation in the roof of your school, or the carpet in your house.

Perhaps that is true, but we are not allowed to have exposed CF in schools in our state because the authorities have deemed it unsafe. Loose fibres certainly do become airborne when cutting and handling the stuff and the manufacturers recommend respirators, so I don't think a court would agree with you.

[Greenman]

Re: School oven

I took some note when I fitted the CF blanket and it was done out in the sunshine. I was pleased to have the full PPE and I am sure that I would not want what I saw in the air to be in my lungs.

I worked in some industrial situations where little heed was paid to exposure to hazards such as this. This is a known hazard and it is folly to mess with things that we know to be a hazard. Ask anyone who has watched the demise of someone with mesothelioma or a similar fibre induced disease.

Regardless of the law. Who would want to expose our young people if we even think it is potentially harmful.

Just my opinion.