While every commercial business must take steps to address fire safety, it is a concern that is of much greater importance for restaurant owners. Since these establishments rely on cooking and baking food, the use of heat and fire remains fairly consistent throughout working hours. That, of course, increases the risk of a fire, making detection and suppression efforts integral aspects of your restaurant’s daily operations.
Make Sure Your Staff Understands Restaurant Fire Safety
Even before installing a fire extinguisher in New Jersey restaurants, owners must thoroughly train their employees in fire safety. In addition to knowing how to respond to a fire, staff members must know how to prevent fires in the first place. Doing something as simple as cleaning the grill on a regular basis is enough to lower the risks of a grease fire.
Staff should be advised to wear short sleeves and aprons and to keep long hair tied back and held in a hairnet. Paths to emergency exits should always be kept clear of obstructions, such as empty boxes and trash bags. Kitchen staff, in particular, must supervise the cooking or baking of food at all times.
Install and Maintain a Working Fire Sprinkler System
It’s rare to find restaurants that lack fire sprinkler systems these days, as they are highly efficient in suppressing widespread fires over broader surface areas.
The most common fire sprinkler system is a wet pipe system, which stores water directly in the pipes, reducing the amount of time it takes for the water to reach the sprinkler heads. And each sprinkler head has its own detection valve to keep sprinklers from activating unnecessarily.
A dry pipe system stores chemical gas in its pipes, and it is primarily useful when there’s a concern that water in the pipes could freeze due to an extremely cold exterior climate. Once the sprinkler heads detect a change in heat, the gas gets flushed through the heads, letting the water flow through the system.
Use Fire Suppression Systems in Your Commercial Kitchen
Restaurants should have fire suppression systems specially designed for commercial kitchens. These systems must consist of grease ducts, exhaust hoods over stoves, and commercial exhaust fans. Electrical control interlocks must connect the exhaust fans to the building’s fire alarm panel.
Most restaurants use two types of hoods. A type I hood, commonly called a grease hood, should be used over any appliance that produces grease or grease-infused vapor, such as fryers, ovens, grills, and boilers.
Type II hoods, also known as condensate hoods, are useful where grease-laden vapors aren’t present. They should be installed over coffee makers, dishwashers, and similar workstations, as they are effective in removing steam, vapor, heat, and some odors.
Provide Portable Fire Extinguishers
Even with a fire sprinkler system, New Jersey restaurants should be equipped with fire extinguishers within a 75-foot reach of every person in every space in the building, except the kitchen. During a fire extinguisher inspection in NJ, the inspector will expect your kitchen to have one fire extinguisher within a 50-foot reach of every individual.
Complying with these guidelines will help restaurant owners avoid unnecessary fines and penalties. More importantly, the rules for fire extinguishers ensure employees and patrons can safely suppress smaller fires before they spread.
Install or Upgrade Your Fire Protection System Today
ABC Fire & Safety provides a wide range of commercial fire protection equipment. Whether you need an entire system for a new restaurant or you’re ready to upgrade parts of an older system, we provide everything you need to protect your New Jersey restaurant. Keep your business, employees, and patrons safer with state-of-the-art fire detection and suppression technology.
