Commercial kitchens are, by nature, busy places. Filled with various staff preparing, cooking and fetching food, even the most organised ones are often frantic and noisy.
You may not be able to do much about the activity levels, but you can make sure your commercial kitchen is as safe as it can possibly be. Among other things, this means ensuring you take steps to reduce the risk of fire.
A potential hazard in any kitchen, fires are particularly likely in commercial kitchens precisely because they are being used all the time by several different people.
Here are just a few basic tips to help reduce the risk of a potentially disastrous fire in your commercial kitchen.
Maintenance is essential
Making sure all kitchen equipment is properly maintained at the correct intervals is highly important and a vital step in ensuring your staff’s safety.
Electrical equipment in commercial kitchens will be getting a high amount of use, so it must be regularly checked to make sure it is not showing signs of wear and tear that may make it hazardous.
In addition, all unnecessary electrical equipment should be turned off – and ideally unplugged – when the establishment closes for the night
Grease is the word
The build-up of grease is inevitable in any kitchen that is being used constantly, but grease is highly flammable and therefore needs to be kept to a minimum as much as possible.
Regular cleaning of areas that collect grease – including walls, cookers, ovens and ventilation systems – should be part of your everyday maintenance plan.
All commercial ovens should be given a thorough cleaning on a weekly basis at the very least. If you want a professional company to come and clean your workplace however regularly you need them, one option is a Gloucester commercial cleaning company.
The ventilation system, which probably contains an extractor hood and fan, should be given professional cleaning treatment regularly to ensure the grease trapped by the system is removed properly.
One of the most common causes of kitchen fires is leaving cooking unattended, such as when you are distracted by something else. The Derby Telegraph recently reported that more than half of all accidental fires start in the kitchen.
Finally, installing the right type of smoke alarm and making sure staff are properly trained in what to do if a fire does break out are essential steps.
