If you’ve ever had the chance to walk into a commercial kitchen, be it because you work in food service or because you’re just curious, you may wonder how people work in often hot, small spaces with a flurry of activity and many hands and bodies moving at once. What you may not think about is the safety of these workers and the space you’re standing in. Unfortunately, not every individual is as up to date on fire safety as should be expected, nor are fire suppression systems for restaurants always current. With the mix of many bodies, gas, flames, oils, and other flammable materials, having working fire suppression systems for restaurants is incredibly important for everyone’s safety. With 8,000+ restaurant fires being reported every year, restaurants should have the appropriate kitchen fire suppression system.
What are the Current Standards for Restaurant Fire Suppression Systems?
Since states have their own individual rules and laws for fire safety, the current standard can change depending on where you are. However, 35 states mandate that systems that are not UL-300 have to be replaced if cooking equipment is switched out, modified, or moved to a different area. The UL 300 systems follow a specific standard from Underwriters Laboratories, with the intent to make modern kitchens a safer place to work. If a commercial kitchen is older and still has equipment that’s not up to date on UL 300 systems, it would be a wise move to look into restaurant fire suppression installation that does comply. In addition to keeping UL 300 systems in mind, commercial kitchens ought to be regularly inspected and serviced by a contractor. The suggested amount of time is every six months.
So What Do Fire Suppression Systems for Restaurants Do?
These systems are automatic and are already engineered to protect areas with ventilating hardware and that are frequently touched by grease or other flammable materials. They’re designed to suppress fires and also to warn workers if there’s a possible event of a fire. Naturally, they’re also supposed to prevent a fire from occurring in the first place.
Why Is It Important for Restaurants to Have Such A System?
The biggest reason is safety, for both guests and workers. If a kitchen fire gets out of hand, it can injure or kill hundreds of people, especially if it spreads to other buildings. Since 41% of most non-confined restaurant building fires start in a kitchen, its important to prevent it from happening in the first place. Secondly, finances are another reason to invest. If the restaurant burns down or is damaged, insurance could go up (especially if you don’t have a suppression system to begin with), and both regular and potential customers might get turned away, thinking the area is unsafe even after the restaurant is rebuilt. Revenue is also lost while you rebuild the restaurant.
For everyone’s safety, it’s imperative that restaurants are up to date on fire safety and the necessary systems that can prevent one. A commercial kitchen fire suppression system can be one of those ways to keep the restaurant, the workers, and the guest all safe. Accidents do happen and you want to be prepared for the worst, should it come.