Tips for Maintaining Restaurant Fire Protection Systems
Opening a restaurant is both exciting and challenging. When building or remodeling a restaurant, you need to take even the minute details into consideration. One of the key challenges you will have to deal with is fire safety. It is your utmost responsibility to protect and take good care of all the employees who work in your facility and guests who come to dine. There are fire prevention and safety regulations already in place that you will need to follow. It is crucial to ensure that your restaurant and commercial kitchen is outfitted with adequate and top quality fire protection systems, so that you can minimize the risk of fire accidents. Restaurant owners need to install various types of fire protection systems in their facility.
After you have installed the right type of fire safety systems in your restaurant, you need to give them proper and regular maintenance. This is exactly what we’ll discuss in this article for your knowledge. So, keep on reading and find out what you should do to maintain the efficiency of fire systems.
Common Fire Protection Systems in Restaurants
To cater to the specific needs of commercial buildings, manufacturers create various types of fire protection systems. You first need to assess your exact needs and then choose the right fire protection systems for installation in your restaurant, commercial kitchen, cafeteria, pub, bar etc.
Here is a quick look at the different kinds of fire safety systems that restaurants use for enhanced fire protection.
Fire Suppression Systems
Fire suppression systems are designed to not just control and prevent fires but also extinguish the flames and fires. These systems are used in commercial buildings and industrial facilities and have a broad range of applications. All fire suppression systems are not manufactured and designed equal. There are multiple types of fire suppression systems designed and available.
Two of the most commonly used fire suppression systems used in restaurant buildings and commercial kitchens are wet and dry chemicals. Each of these systems has their own set of advantages. A wet chemical fire suppression system uses a wet chemical as the extinguishing agent to immediately put out flames. The tiny droplets released by the system are quite powerful at preventing a flame or fire from reigniting. Another benefit of this system is hassle-free post cleanup. A dry chemical fire suppression system doesn’t use water. It uses dry chemical compounds to quickly extinguish fire in a facility.
To find out more about the differences between a wet chemical and dry chemical fire suppression system, reach out to one of restaurant fire safety specialists at Nationwide Fire Protection in Denver, CO.
Fire Alarm Systems
The main role of a fire alarm system is to alert people by sounding alarms to the presence of smoke, flame or fire. The operation of the system is based on a series of inputs and outputs. Fire alarm systems are installed in and used by a wide range of commercial and industrial facilities. The purpose of putting these systems in place is to safeguard people and property. In short, a fire alarm system performs four critical functions including detecting smoke or fire, alerting occupants of the building, managing risks and informing the fire department.
Different types of fire alarm systems are available out there. Before you need one of these systems, you need to know exactly which one is ideal for the day-to-day needs of your restaurant building. Four main categories of fire alarm systems include ionization, photoelectric, heat and a combined ionization/photoelectric. Seek the help of a fire safety specialist to make the right choice.
To know more about the different types of fire alarm systems, you should get in touch with Nationwide Fire Protection, which specializes in the installation of fire protection systems for restaurants in Denver, CO.
Fire Sprinkler Systems
A fire sprinkler system is designed to prevent fire from growing by discharging water through multiple sprinkler heads at a time. This is one of the most responsive and highly active methods used for fire protection in restaurants and commercial facilities where fire is a common danger. The sprinkler heads are connected to a water supply system through pipes. On the detection of a fire, the sprinkler heads discharge water at an effective pressure and flow rate.
Whichever fire protection system is ideal for your needs, you should give each of them proper maintenance on a regular basis. If you plan to keep these fire safety systems in excellent shape so that they work at maximum efficiency in a fire emergency, you should get their testing and inspection done in a timely manner and get the worn components replaced without any delay.
Tips for Maintaining Fire Suppression Systems
Fire suppression systems consist of several components, which can get worn out or damaged over time. At all times, you should make sure the entire system is fully functional and ready to act. Just imagine the dangerous consequences, if the system just failed to respond in the event of a fire. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the regular maintenance of a fire suppression system and give it professional maintenance that it needs in a timely manner.
Regular Inspections and Testing
Timely inspections and testing is essential for all types of fire suppression systems. As per NFPA 25 specifications, a fire suppression system should be regularly inspected by the owner and professionals. You will need to carry out the annual inspection of the system by a certified professional.
Since a fire suppression system consists of several parts or components, you will need to get every part properly inspected and tested. The fire suppression system you have installed should function correctly, exactly as per the manufacturer’s recommendations. First, you need to understand the importance of inspections and testing and then set up a schedule for performing the same. Inspections can be carried out on a weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Professionals will ensure the detection system, signals and the discharging devices are all functioning in a correct manner and ready to contain and control a fire emergency.
Proper Cleaning and Maintenance of Equipment
When it comes to fire prevention and safety in a restaurant, you should never ignore the cleaning and maintenance of all the cooking equipment and machinery. Nowhere in the kitchen should you let grease build up, as these deposits can become a potential safety hazard for the occupants.
While regular cleaning should be done by staff, you should hire trained technicians for deep cleaning and degreasing of all the restaurant kitchen equipment and appliances. Proper maintenance will eliminate fire safety hazards from your facility and enhance the safety of the people and building. For deep and elaborate cleaning, you should rely only on trained professionals and technicians.
Timely Replacement of Worn or Damaged Parts
A fire suppression system consists of alarm valves, sprinkler heads, detection device, initiating device, stop valve, power supply etc. Over time, these parts can become faulty or get damaged. As a responsible facility manager, you should keep a close watch on the key symptoms of damage and then get the faulty parts repaired or replaced as per the specific requirements. It’s important that you get the fire protection maintenance and repair work done on time.
Ignoring minor issues is always a bad idea, because it will ultimately take a toll on the entire system and may even cause total breakdown. If you plan to avoid big problems and avoid expensive repairs, you should seek the help of experts and get the damaged parts replaced without any delay.
Training Staff on Proper Use and Maintenance
Not anyone can maintain a fire suppression system. For regular maintenance, you will need to have some basic knowledge and understanding of the system and how all its components function. Whether it is the regular use or maintenance of a fire suppression system, your staff will need training.
Seek the help of professionals who install all your fire suppression equipment. They know these systems like the back of their hand and can provide sound knowledge about how the fire system works. Restaurant fire safety specialists are the best professionals that you can hire for educating and training your employees. If you operate a restaurant kitchen in Denver, CO, you should head over to Nationwide Fire Protection to hire trainers for the training of your staff.
Tips for Maintaining Fire Alarm Systems
As a restaurant owner or manager, it is your foremost duty to ensure your fire alarm systems remain fully functional at all times. You need to give it proper and right kind of maintenance on a regular basis.
First, the staff should know about the functioning of the fire alarm system. Based on what type of system you are using, the staff should know how the entire system works to sound alarms for danger. Most of this information will be available in the manufacturer recommendations manual. Next, it is important for the staff to receive training in the proper use of the fire alarm system. Keeping the system clean is a definite thing for the staff to know and learn. Most importantly, the staff should be trained in what exactly needs to be done when there are system alerts or malfunctions. At the same time, the staff should know what not to do. Seek the help of professionals who install your fire alarm system and ask them to develop well-structured training programs for the staff in your restaurant building or facility.
Tips for Maintaining Fire Sprinkler Systems
Fire sprinkler systems play a very crucial role to bolster fire safety in restaurants. How you maintain your fire sprinkler system could be the difference between a small fire and a major fire emergency. Post-installation, you should give proper maintenance and care to the units and sprinkler heads.
Proper maintenance will ensure that your sprinkler system doesn’t falter or malfunction in the event of an emergency. Keep a close watch on all the components of the fire sprinkler system. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the NFPA 25 codes to prevent failures. Conduct regular inspections and testing done and maintain proper cleanliness of the area around the sprinkler system. If there is an alert or malfunction, you should address it without any delay.
Importance of Professional Maintenance and Inspection
Maintaining different types of fire protection systems for restaurant safety is not easy unless you have knowledge and training. Whether it is a fire suppression system, fire alarm system, fire sprinkler system or any other commercial fire safety system, you will need to seek the help of professionals for their cleaning and maintenance. With fire safety specialists by your side, you will be able to conduct all the inspections, testing and maintenance in a correct manner. Plus, you can take their help to develop training programs for your staff.
Working with a professional fire protection company is the best idea for maintaining fire protection systems. Experts will first carry out the installation of all these machinery with a high level of accuracy and then equip you with highly useful advice and tips for the maintenance of fire protection systems.
Restaurant fire protection companies provide a galore of services including commercial equipment installation, fire restoration, fire protection system maintenance, fire safety system repair and replacement.
Still Have a Question?
Use these tips to enhance fire prevention and safety in your restaurant, commercial building or facility. Get timely inspections and testing done to keep your employees, guests and property safe from the danger of fire. At all times, make sure you stay compliant with the fire safety and building codes, so that you face no hassle in running your restaurant business. If you are in search of expert advice on the installation, repair and maintenance of wet chemical systems, dry chemical systems, fire sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors or heat detectors, head over to Nationwide Fire Protection in Denver, CO.
Our company also provides fire safety training for employees in a restaurant, cafeteria, pub, bar, commercial kitchen etc. You can call our office phone number or send us an email using the contact form on our website to get in touch with and discuss your needs with one of our fire safety specialists.
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