The kitchen is the heart of your restaurant but also the most dangerous part of it. Workers use dangerous sharp utensils, slips and falls on water or oil can happen, and a crowded workplace means inadvertent physical contact is likely. However, equipped with ranges, broilers, fryers and a myriad of other high-temperature cooking appliances, no other environment demands proper fire protection more than today’s modern cooking facilities. The heating of oil every day means there is always the possibility of a fire breaking out. In the USA, 57% of fires in eating and drinking establishments start in the kitchen.
For many restaurant owners, this is where the appeal of a commercial kitchen fire suppression system (FSS) comes into play! Not only will you be safeguarding your staff, customers and investment, but you may protect yourself from financial and legal struggles.
Many insurance companies are reaching out to their clients in the restaurant and food preparation industry asking them to ensure that their Kitchen Fire Suppression System is up to date and fully maintained. It is possible that they may grant lower premiums to restaurant kitchen owners who are in compliance. These insurance benefits other than reduced premiums mean that you may have additional insurance underwriters to choose from when you have reduced your liability with the inclusion of a Kitchen FSS.
What we offer:
The Redmen system has specific design for the challenging demands that cooking applications pose. By offering one of the most flexible system configurations in the industry, Redmen Fire Systems provides efficient, economical protection for all types of cooking facilities and design layouts. Our customized approach allows you to specify the type of detection, control and cylinder sizes to fit your application.
Investing in a Redmen system enables more than just code compliance for your appliance (UL300, NFPA 96 & 17A). It provides automatic, round the clock protection from the devastating consequences of fire.
At this time, our aim is to provide a quote for you to reduce fire safety costs by arranging one of our experts to conduct a fire risk assessment at your site.
Please contact us today going to our form at the bottom of this page or speak to our experienced and friendly staff in our Sydney or NSW Central Coast offices on 1300 733 636.
We can separate a commercial kitchen fire suppression system into two cooking station connections:
When the commercial kitchen fire suppression system triggers, it will automatically cut off a restaurant’s gas connection which will stop the source of the fire and prevent it from spreading further. However, kitchen grease fires may continue to burn, which is why there is a second stage to fire suppression systems.
Your fire protection services company will install a collection of nozzles inside the hoods of your cooking station. When triggered, the fire extinguisher hood systems releases water-based chemicals, specially designed to put out grease fires, to extinguish the rest of the flames. This vapour blanket will prevent it from re-igniting and spreading to other parts of the kitchen.
The final step of the system is that the kitchen hood will automatically turn on and remove any lingering smoke from the kitchen. Customers will not even realize there was a fire to begin with!
A lot of restaurants do not have fire suppression systems. It is important to have one though, no matter what location. If there are kitchens, then there is a possibility of a fire spiralling out of control. That can become devastating to owners, employees, and customers.
A fire can cause huge amounts of debt and potentially close the establishment completely, so a kitchen fire suppression system is a worthy investment to protect your business, your customers, and your employees. The financial cost can come from repairing damages and also paying any fines for inadequate regulatory compliance.
Like any fire suppression system, your kitchen’s system requires some regular maintenance. In general, they get an inspection twice a year (semi-annually) by a trained clean agent technician, according to National Fire Protection Association 2004.
The first check at the six-month mark will be to check the agent containers. The annual check-up is more in-depth and looks at all the devices, control panel and nozzles.
A report released by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) states that restaurant fires occur on an annual average of 8,240 times. This results in an average of 2 deaths, 115 injuries, and $245 million in damage. The reports also say that 40% of restaurant fires originate in the kitchen, 20% of which include the stove being involved.
Kitchens are extremely hazardous owing to the amount of oil, fats, and grease present. Oil can be flammable due to the high temperatures required for cooking. Food (including oil, fats, and grease) is reported to be the first to ignite in 42% of restaurants, according to the NFPA.
Another way kitchen fires start is from the ductwork and exhaust system. Flames enter the vents and fans behind ovens and burners that remove combustible vapours and smoke. These are commonly home to grease accumulation, and as such, fires can quickly spread.
The kitchen hood is an underrated tool! It works every day to extract potentially dangerous dirty and smoky air. However, since it is sucking up grease, fats, and oil there can be build-up that happens. When there is build-up, that fuel provides a major hazard for spreading or igniting fires.
We strongly advise cleaning the hood regularly to provide the optimum performance for your commercial kitchen fire suppression system.
If you own a fast-food restaurant, you should clean the hood once a month. Hood cleaning is necessary every three months in high-traffic restaurants. Then, for slower-paced restaurants, or if you primarily use ovens, hood cleaning should take place semi-annually or annually.
There are so many things to consider when looking for a commercial kitchen fire suppression system, it may become overwhelming! The basics of understanding how to successfully match your needs boils down to these factors. However, we recommend that you find a specialist in fire safety to help you with this process:
We work with multiple suppliers to best suit our clients needs. Some systems offer appropriate benefits to the end user and we would create a bespoke approach to meet best coverage and economical installation.
It can be overwhelming to choose the right kitchen fire suppression system for your restaurant. The skilled and certified experts at Redmen Fire Protection Management can install a variety of fire detection, suppression, and extinguishing systems in Sydney, Newcastle, Central Coast, Maitland, Wollongong, Kiama, Goulburn, Canberra, Katoomba, Bathurst, Dubbo and surrounding areas. If you’re in NSW, then we can probably help.
We provide state-of-the-art, fire protection systems at reasonable costs. Once you have that protection, our low cost fire protection maintenance program can take care of most of your future needs.
Do not leave your business unprotected, contact us today by clicking here for our online form or speak to our experienced and friendly staff on 1300 733 636
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