SC -children in kitchen:was worst feast ever...

[Nicholas Sasso]

At 11:57 AM 10/18/00 +0000, you wrote:
<<<This was brought about by an accident at a feast 
>according to the pronouncer of said rule.
>Maddalena>>>>

****** My Dad owned a restaurant in NJ and there were certain pieces of kitchen 
machinery a child under 16 couldn't use. These were things like the meat 
slicer, the automatic dishwasher (very hot water), the grill, and the hot 
dog machine (one of those flat roller things that the hot dogs sit on and 
cook, I am probably missing some of the other machinery I couldn't touch(I 
was way under 16 yrs old).
Laws might be different from state to state.  Basically use common sense.
    Angeline *********

Children are GREAT and should always be encouraged to participate in the
 kitchen.  That said, one needs be very cautious in terms of children and actual, 
documentable laws in the state you are in.  There are real, written down and 
enforceable laws (see OSHA) and health codes that need to be known.  If that 15 
year old is running the slicer and zing off a finger, you will put the SCA, the host 
group, the host site, and yourself at risk for great liability.  

So, you just find out the laws and let them participate within the boundaries.  As for 
SCA rules against children in the kitchen, I suggest you contact your Kingdom 
Seneschalate regarding Kingdom laws.  Corpora is online, but I seriously doubt that anything there will mention something that specific.  The pronouncer of the 'against the rules' statement was probably blowing smoke and attempting to sound important by making personal opinion into LAW.
 
pacem et bonum,

niccolo difrancesco
(Health and Safety above all else)