Neglecting Extraction System Cleaning Risks Insurers Refusing To Pay A Fire Damage Claim

This news report illustrates the disruption that can typically be caused by a fire in a commercial kitchen.

A restaurant had to be evacuated on New Year's Day after a kitchen fire broke out. Although the fire was limited to the extractor fan ducting in the kitchen and some of the boxing round the ducting, four fire crews attended the fire.

The cause was identified as something that had flashed or burnt in the charcoal grill and set alight to debris or grease in the extractor fan above the [restaurant's] charcoal grill.

The fire brigades in the UK frequently identify kitchen extraction systems as being the focus of restaurant and other commercial kitchen fires yet despite new legislation enacted in 2005 it is estimated that around 80% of commercial kitchen extract systems are never cleaned and an estimated 6000 accidental fires in commercial premises per year are attributed to cooking and extraction systems.

Not surprisingly, therefore, insurers are increasingly insisting that a condition of insurance for commercial kitchen operations must include kitchen extract cleaning at least once a year.

They are also investigating much more closely should there be a fire before paying out on any subsequent insurance claim and paying close attention to the maintenance and cleaning history of kitchen ducting & kitchen extracts.

The purpose of a kitchen extraction system is to maintain a clean, a safe and comfortable working environment as well as to comply with food safety and hygiene regulations.

Th extract system draws grease-laden air directly from the areas above cookers, grills and fryers via the cooker hood, and discharges it into the atmosphere. Inevitably an accumulation of dust and grease is likely to build up on the interior ductwork surface over time and this is why the system is vulnerable to becoming the seat of any fire.

Grease deposits are easily ignited by even a small flash fire on or in the fryer, hob or grill and because of the nature of ductwork systems the fire can quickly spread throughout a building, causing extensive damage and potentially putting lives at risk. It is a false economy, even when trading conditions are difficult, as they are during times of recession or economic downturn, to economise by cutting down on kitchen extraction cleaning.

If the worst were to happen and a fire did break out, not only would the business face the immediate disruption to its trading of organising repairs to any damage but also, the additional problem that if it cannot demonstrate that it has had a regular programme of extraction cleaning, it may find that its insurer declines to accept a claim and pay out for the cost of the repairs.

Copyright (c) 2012 Alison Withers

by: Alison Withers

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