Mitigating risk is at the core of every business practice. In commercial kitchens, fires pose the largest risk to the staff, the business, and the brand’s identity. How prepared a kitchen is for fire risks is vital. However, it is more important to prevent fires from starting as they are associated with devastating losses to the business.
Aside from meeting minimum safety requirements in the country and industry, you must also provide staff training and promote preventative maintenance for equipment.
What are the Hazards?
A commercial kitchen has hazards everywhere due to fuel and fire in food preparation. It is vital for one to ensure appliances are regularly checked. Some of these include deep fryers, commercial kitchen grills, ranges, and stoves to manage heating elements and reduce fire risk. Aside from this, hazards may arise from commonly ignored places, such as shelving and how the stock is stored in the kitchen. As a result, it would be ideal to consider how flammable products are stored to ensure fires do not arise or spread across the facility.
Employee fire safety training also ensures staff is aware of the various flammable items in the commercial kitchen. These items should be labeled with commonly used fire hazard symbols. Furthermore, all personnel must know how to operate a fire extinguisher and the different appliances. Doing so will ensure the risk of fire does not arise in food preparation.
When a Fire Arises
Incorporating an emergency exit plan in your commercial kitchen is crucial as you start your kitchen. Doing so ensures all staff can be safely evacuated when a fire occurs. One should consider the number of exits in the restaurant and kitchen as well as whether the staff is familiar with these locations and their accessibility. Any blocks existing to bar entry should be managed to ensure people can leave the venue effectively.
Commercial kitchen owners should also attempt fire drills for their staff to address evacuation of guests, exiting the building, using the fire extinguisher, notifying fire department, and accounting for all staff and guests at the assembly point. This plan should be implemented often annually.
Minimizing Risks with Good Design
Designing the commercial kitchen should be considered the first step in mitigating fire. Incorporating experts in floor design and acquiring equipment facilitates ease in adopting requirements by the local bodies and adopting effective exit routines. While one may struggle to create an ideal floor plan alone, our experts at Merican review the space available and create a design that incorporates efficiency and safety in the kitchen.
With over 8 years in commercial kitchen design and equipment supply in Kenya and East Africa, you can rely on our expertise in the field to ensure your commercial kitchen layout and design meets your efficiency, fire, and safety needs. Contact our team today at 074017448/0742174448 or at sales@mericanltd.com for more information on designing your kitchen.
