Most of the cases regarding building fire are all associated with kitchen and the mechanical exhaust ventilation system installed there. Having open flames, hot equipment, cooking oil and cleaning chemicals, paper products and electrical connections are all ingredients for fire to flame out of control.
Fire can cause serious damage to your building and revenue & sometime cause permanent closure as well. There happens an average damage of $172 million and more than 70 serious injuries per year due to unsafe management for fire safety. Understanding fire hazards, fire protection and safety training are all of a great concern for restaurant owners and lead to safe property maintenance.
Safety Measures:
To overcome the risk of fire inside your restaurant and property need some safety training and protection. There involve just a few safe steps and you are all safe.
Fire Dampers:
Fire smoke dampers are important devices installed in ducts inside building for preventing spreading of fire inside ducts. Having a burning time of 2-3 hours, the dampers sometime control the fire itself by closing the fire path out of there. As it close down automatically by detecting fire and heat, so there doesn’t stay enough air for fire to spread anymore.
Fire Suppression System:
These are devices installed in kitchen that automatically dispense chemicals and other oily materials that might cause fire. The system is having auto functionality causing shut down the fuel and electric supply when the system is activated.
Class K Extinguishers:
Class k extinguishers are only used for kitchen fires involving grease, oil, and fats burning at high temperature. This is a better option for ensuring safety if one is already aware of fire existence in kitchen.
Regular Maintenance:
Schedule a regular maintenance for inspecting all the electric equipment and other systems installed inside. Also make sure none of any combustible items exist near power source.
Exhaust System Inspection:
Monthly inspection of exhaust system inside kitchen that is serving solid food cooking equipment’s is must to reduce the chances of fire. This will result in safe maintenance of the kitchen against fire, and you will be protected always.
Staff Training:
Training your staff against fire hazards prevention and using safe standards are always helpful in this regard.
Use of Extinguisher:
Your kitchen staffs are the permanent players of kitchen-job. They must know how to use an extinguisher, how to pull the pin and from how much distance to shoot the fire.
Grease Cleaning Practices:
Cleaning exhaust hoods is always important because the grease might build up and restrict air flow. Also working surfaces and walls should be clean always.
Remove Ashes:
The ashes from ovens must be removed once a day and store in a metal container 10 feats away from combustible materials of all types.
Flammable Liquid Storage:
Highly flammable liquids must be store in a separate area with proper ventilation system there. Keep them in their original container in tightly sealed form away from food-preparation areas and other sources of flame.
While in operation, at least one of your staff members must know about fire smoke dampers, when an evacuation is necessary, how to call emergency authorities and ensures that everyone exits safely. He must aware of all the emergency exits and handling emergency situation. One member per shift must have clear understanding of emergency situation and have the ability of shutting down gas and electrical supplies in case of emergency.
