Running your own commercial kitchen comes with rigorous legislation and insurance requirements. Standards have to be met and procedures set in place to ensure the safety of employees. For example, kitchen ventilation is required to create a safe and comfortable working environment.
The cooking process generally produces large quantities of fumes, vapours and heat.
There are many factors that affect the emission levels that staff are exposed to during cooking. They include:
Size of the kitchen
Quality of ventilation system
Age and condition of the appliance
The level of appliance usage
These four factors must be taken into consideration at all times to ensure the wellbeing of your staff.
The role of a kitchen ventilation system is to remove fumes, replace excess warm air with cool, remove carbon monoxide and ensure a comfortable work environment for employees. It is easy to identify when a canopy is removing fumes and replacing warm air, unfortunately it is not as easy to identify when carbon monoxide is in the air.
Previously on this blog we have discussed the importance of a properly maintained kitchen to help prevent fires in the kitchen. There are numerous hazards that can cause employees can slip, fall or even cut a finger when preparing food. Cooking oil is one of the most dangerous substances in the kitchen and presents the most hazards.
5% Discount When You Send A Photograph
We reward customers with a free quote including a 5% discount for sending us pictures of the area to be cleaned beforehand. By providing us with photographs of the canopy/duct/vent we are able gain a more detailed insight into the task that lies ahead for our professional cleaning team.
Providing a comfortable work environment is essential for a successful workplace. Poorly ventilated workplaces can result in an unsafe work environment and lead to high staff turnover level as a result of stress. Ventilation systems are required in many work environments, particularly commercial kitchens.
As an employer it is your responsibility to provide first-aid to an employee if he/she is injured or becomes ill at work. Failure to do so can have serious consequences and could result in death.
Recent statistics released by the London Fire Brigade reveal that one fire starts everyday in kitchen extraction systems or ductwork of businesses like pubs, cafes, restaurants and hotels. The main cause for many of these fires is poor maintenance of ventilation systems, highlighting the importance of regular cleaning and proactive maintenance.
Unfortunately accidents involving knifes are common in commercial kitchens. Employees regularly injure their non-knife hand when preparing food. In order to ensure employees are kept safe from harm, it is important to control the use of knifes as much as is reasonably possible.
In commercial kitchens there are many fumes and gases released into the air as by-product of the food preparation process. For health and legal reasons kitchens are required to have a fully operational and maintained extraction fan system above food preparation areas to extract fumes and replace them with clean fresh air so that staff are operating in a safe working environment.
