As the owner of a restaurant, it should be your priority to ensure a perfectly safe and comfortable environment for your employees and your customers. To achieve this goal, you will need to pay special attention to your kitchen area. This is because the restaurant kitchen is usually the prime source of a fire. The combustible nature of equipment present in restaurant kitchens is what makes them so vulnerable to fires.
What are Your Options?
Although there is really no way to completely eliminate the threat of fire in a restaurant kitchen, because of the intrinsic nature of cooking, there are some precautionary measures you can take on your end to reduce the threat of a catastrophe. For that, you first have to understand the fire hazards in restaurants and then come up with the most suitable fire prevention and protection measures. So, before you go out looking for the best kitchen hood fire suppression system for your restaurant, you need to first fully understand the fire hazards present in your restaurant.
Fire Hazards in a Restaurant
The presence of so many combustible items in restaurant kitchens is what puts them at a high risk of catching a fire. Objects such as electrical appliances and connections, cooking oils and fuels, paper and plastic products, hot equipment, cleaning and washing chemicals and electric appliances are susceptible to fires. Couple these with the presence of open stoves on high heat and you have a veritable fire pit. The degree of fire exposure of a restaurant will ultimately depend on many factors, such as:
- the size of the restaurant
- the size of the kitchen area
- building construction
- seating arrangements
- the type of fire prevention and suppression system in place
- the type and numbers of cooking equipment used
The loss of life and damage to property are the primary fire-loss concerns that you should keep in mind when designing an effective fire prevention and suppression system for your restaurant.
Here are the top 3 tips to keep in mind while implementing a fire prevention and suppression system in your restaurant:
- Install Smoke Detectors
Smoke detectors are your first line of defence in case something goes wrong. Although they will not be able to extinguish the fire or stop it from spreading, they will certainly alert your employees and your customers of any potential fire incident before it becomes dangerous.
- Install Fire Sprinkler System
An efficient fire sprinkler system will work as soon as it gets a signal from the smoke detectors or fire alarm. You need to make sure to install the fire sprinkler systems at strategic places in your restaurant and especially in your kitchen. In case of a fire emergency, they start to work immediately and put out the small fires immediately before it starts to spread.
- Fire Suppression System
Installing an efficient fire suppression system in your restaurant is as important as installing fire sprinkler system or installing smoke detectors. You simply cannot rely on your sprinkler system alone to handle the spread of fire and smoke. Whether you decide to install a wet chemical fire suppression system for kitchen hood or go with a fire suppression system with clean gas, just make sure you have one in place.
The recommendations above does not relieve the owner responsibility in providing the safest fire prevention measurements in your kitchen. Installation of fire alarm systems and sprinkler systems are usually mandatory for buildings which are to comply with “code of practice for fire precautions in buildings “. But the fire suppression system for kitchen hood is also mandatory required if tenants in the buildings are setting up a commercial kitchen to service their restaurants.
Therefore, consultation with a qualified contractor or qualified persons may be necessary before you make a move.