Commercial kitchen fire prevention
When preparing food in a commercial kitchen, safety is paramount, as cooking involves exposure to certain risks. The most common danger is a kitchen fire that ravages everything in its path. So to help you minimize that risk, this article presents some very important information on fire prevention.
The importance of equipment maintenance in improving safety
To ensure that your ventilation system works safely and effectively, it’s imperative that your range and oven hoods be thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis. This process helps guarantee a clean, healthy environment for those who work in commercial or institutional kitchens.
This clean, healthy environment, in turn, ensures the safety of the kitchen staff and, by extension, that of the business or institution.
In addition to cleaning the range hoods, cleaning the grease filters should be made a top priority. These components play an important role in circulating and refreshing the air in the kitchen.
That’s why this task must always be entrusted to a specialized service, exclusively dedicated to cleaning and maintaining these types of filters. Only these specialized companies have the necessary skill and expertise to perform the work that needs to be done, whether cleaning or replacement.
Compliance with safety standards in a commercial kitchen
Given the importance of a kitchen in a commercial context, numerous regulations have been established to guarantee the sustainability of commercial kitchens. These include not only municipal regulations but also the safety standards imposed by insurance companies and other state agencies.
Among other things, municipal regulations require the installation of a fire alarm system, as well as fire protection equipment (fire extinguishers) that are maintained by experts in accordance with a strict schedule.
These regulations also require owners to implement specialized equipment, such as fire suppression systems, emergency lighting and exit signs.
Over time, the standards will most likely be updated. If an old regulation is repealed or a new one is added, the authorities responsible for making those decisions are required to communicate this information as soon as possible to the owners of establishments equipped with commercial kitchens in order for them to make the necessary modifications.
What’s more, if the owners fail to abide by the regulations, they could be held criminally liable in the event of a fire.
The responsibility of the owner of the premises
Owners must have supporting documentation proving their awareness of the standards governing the fire prevention status of their commercial kitchen and their compliance with the conditions imposed on them by these standards.
It’s important to emphasize this, given the fact that many owners are taking a big risk by operating without first performing all the necessary procedures. Some of them claim that they’re put off by the exorbitant cost of compliance.
However, the consequences of non-compliance will prove to be even more costly. The penalties, for which the owner is directly responsible, are very high and could even lead to closure of the establishment, imprisonment or both.
