Ignoring Cleaning of Extract Systems Puts Commercial Kitchens at Risk of Fire

Government statistics indicate that the majority of restaurant and catering establishment fires involve high threat equipment such as fryers, griddles, ranges and ventilation ducts and it has been estimated that a great deal more up to 80% of kitchen extraction ducts are never ever cleaned.

Constructing owners and operators have duties of care in fire safety legislation passed in 2006. Those that ignore it face severe penalties in court for failure to comply with fire safety legislation.

An fundamental initially step, subsequently is a fire threat assessment for ensuring that a commercial kitchen is safe each for the people today who perform there but also for buyers and buyers consuming in its restaurant.

Environmental well being legislation also implies kitchen emissions have to be kept under manage.

Lately fire services in the UK have reported a spate of fires in kitchens that have not paid appropriate attention to extraction cleaning. A spokesperson for 1 fire authority says that uncleaned grease extract ventilation systems are possibly the highest contributors to the threat of fire in catering facilities.

This is mainly because the objective of a kitchen extract ventilation system is to draw in grease-laden air from the locations above cookers, grills and fryers through the cooker hood,. Grease deposits are specifically vulnerable to getting ignited a smaller flash fire on a hob or in a grill.

In 1 latest incident in London a fire in the ventilation shaft in a rapid food outlet at a railway station closed the station for most of the day, disrupted the train schedule and involved 40 firefighters ahead of it was lastly extinguished.

Kitchen extraction cleaning is a troublesome, unpleasant job but frequent attention to can also have economic positive aspects on insurance expenses. The ABI (Association of British Insurers) recommends that extract systems in commercial kitchens should certainly be routinely cleaned and certified. How routinely depends on usage and can differ from a month to when a year.

It is most effectively carried out by a commercial cleaning firm that specializes in kitchen extract cleaning and carries it out in compliance with the HVCA most effective practice guidance.

Decide on a firm that can verify that its operators are effectively trained in the use of many cleaning supplies and solutions and that will carry out a suitable survey beforehand as nicely as offering correct reports and certificates afterwards for Developing owners or managers to maintain in their records for insurers, wellness and safety and environmental well being inspectors.

Neglecting normal kitchen extraction cleaning puts commercial kitchens at danger of fire and their owners vulnerable to prosecution and fines. By Ali Withers.