Unfortunately, establishments with indoor kitchens experience fire accidents all the time. According to data supplied by West Bend insurance, approximately 8,160 fire accidents hit restaurants each year—with more than 50% of them caused by cooking equipment!
Investing in fire suppression installations and regular fire extinguisher refills do a great deal when it comes to ensuring that your restaurant is safe from accidents. Despite these fail-safes, you will still need to have staff trained to handle the fire suppression equipment you have installed on your premises.
Every member of your staff needs to be prepared for the worst, but they should also adopt certain safety practices in their everyday duties. With employees actively avoiding actions that can potentially lead to a kitchen fire, your restaurant business will be in far less danger than before.
1. Assign emergency roles
The first thing to do is to assign roles to your staff in case of an emergency. If each member of your team is given a role and is made aware of their responsibilities, your employees are less likely to panic in the event of an actual fire. In such an instance, they will know to take definite actions to suppress or mitigate the damages.
For example, your wait-staff could be assigned to crowd control and would be responsible for getting your patrons to safety. Meanwhile, your kitchen staff could be responsible for maintaining your fire suppression systems and using the fire extinguishers in a fire emergency. If the fire is too big for your team, someone should also be assigned to alert the local fire department too.
2. Conduct regular fire safety drills
Once the roles have been assigned, it’s essential to practice them regularly through fire safety drills. The said drills should take place a few times each month to keep them fresh in their minds. In doing so, your business’ fire safety practices can be ingrained on your employee’s minds, allowing them to perform their roles on autopilot when the real emergencies hit your premises.
3. Incentivize safety practices
As in all things in life, prevention is always better than cure. To prevent a fire emergency from occurring in the first place, you can incentivize specific fire precautionary measures to have them adopted in an everyday work setting.
Some fire safety practices that you can adopt and incentivize through a small price or reward include the following:
4. Get rid of grease
According to the US Fire Administration, fire departments in the US responded to an average of 188,800 cooking fires from 2014 to 2016, 47% of which were caused by ignited oils, fat, and grease. This means that getting rid of grease accumulation in your kitchen could lower your fire hazard risks by a tremendous amount!
As such, to prevent a fire accident, regularly clean your broilers, convection ovens, grills, fryers, and range hoods.
Designate a smoking area
It’s a good idea to designate a dedicated smoking area and ensure strict implementation. Ensure that nobody, not even your kitchen staff, is smoking near your kitchen to avoid combustible materials’ accidental ignition.
Dispose of garbage properly and regularly
Trash can accumulate quickly in restaurants, which require proper cleaning and disposal protocols to be followed. To avoid a fire, store easily combustible materials, like linens and paper boxes, away from heat and cooking sources.
Conclusion
Combining fire safety practices and emergency preparedness is the best way to go when it comes to avoiding or mitigating the risks of a fire accident. While it can take a significant amount of time and financing, the cost and effort are worth the trouble, especially when you factor in the potential losses you can incur from not doing so!
Atlantic Fire Protection is your best bet for all your fire suppression installation needs. We provide the highest quality service for the most affordable of prices in New Jersey & Pennsylvania; just send us your current invoice, and we’ll beat the price—guaranteed! Contact us today to learn more about our services.