Most restaurants in Iowa must constantly deal with issues involving fire safety. After all, cooking involves an open flame or dealing with temperatures hot enough to easily start a fire. One mistake or oversight can end up in financial disaster and even loss of life. Owning the right restaurant fire suppression equipment is important, but so is being aware of common safety issues on the job. Here are 6 tips to help your food service enjoy increased safety.
1. Water and Grease Fires
Make sure everyone in your business knows not to put water on grease fires. This will only make them worse. Here are important steps to take for grease fire extinguishing:
* Turn off the burner or heat source
* Use a foam fire extinguisher
* If a fire extinguisher is not available try to smother the fire. This removes oxygen which fires need to burn.
* Use material like salt or baking soda in an emergency.
2. Consider Automated Restaurant Fire Suppression Equipment
Today’s fire suppression equipment in Iowa can sound an alarm and spray the right kind of suppression foam to put out a fire quickly. It also turns off the fuel source for fire automatically. This can greatly increase the safety of your employees because some people panic at the sight of a fire and may not do anything. Automated equipment not only helps to reduce employee injury, but it also protects your business property.
3. Check all Electrical Appliances
Commercial cooking appliances can take a great deal of wear and tear and over time, cords may become frayed and switches may loosen. Someone should inspect and check all cooking equipment once a week.
4. Keep the Exhaust System Clean
Most commercial kitchens have large exhaust fans and should be professionally cleaned on a regular basis. This can help to eliminate many fire hazards in the work place.
5. Train Workers in Power Shutdown Procedures
If a fire broke out or a major disaster occurred, you might need to shut off the gas, electric and water as soon as possible. Your employees need to know how to do these things. This simple training can be invaluable.
6. Keep Fire Extinguishers Up to Date
Fire extinguishing equipment is dated in Iowa because they provide maximum effectiveness for only so long. To make sure your extinguishers are in good shape, make sure someone inspects them and all restaurant fire suppression equipment, routinely.
