Is your Kitchen harbouring Risks greater than Bacteria?
The Health and Safety Executive estimate that 65% of commercial kitchens have inadequate ventilation and do not comply with current guidelines. A huge cause for concern considering that dirty or blocked extraction filters pose a real fire risk and are a major cause of poor ventilation.
Your filters could be harbouring harmful bacteria that could lead to a food poisoning outbreak but consider the ramifications if a fire results in loss of life?
Commercial kitchen cleaning best practices should always be considered in line with local legislation and local authority guidelines. Environmental health practitioners will play a part but the liability risks here should not be underestimated.
Many insurance companies now stipulate that filters are cleaned regularly in line with a risk assessment. This assessment should consider the products being cooked, the volume and frequency. If you are found negligent in this area your insurance may not pay out, can you afford to take this risk?
Clean, free flowing extraction systems reduce fire risk considerably and improve air quality for employees and the public. The working environment is much improved with kitchen staff working more productively. Not only are there insurance issues to consider but Environmental Health departments may check for proof of filter exchange.
Grease filter exchange is of course only one element of commercial kitchen cleaning. Deep kitchen cleaning is a specialist area; daily cleaning programs are of course critical with the frequency of deep cleaning dictated by the level of use and any insurance criteria. Owners, Chefs and Facilities Managers however should be warned. Deep kitchen cleaning is a non regulated industry, service levels vary enormously with many uninsured providers taking public and employee risks on a daily basis.
Check that your provider holds current Health & Safety Certification; ask to see their risk assessments including COSHH and MSDS. Have they previously had any accidents reported under RIDDOR regulations?
Do they hold current public and employee liability insurance; are their staff CRB checked? There is a lot to consider, with the potential risks involved you really can’t be too careful.
Food residue and grease will build up in areas not covered by daily cleaning regimes. These deposits are breeding grounds for bacteria and could become the source of a dangerous food poisoning outbreak. Grease and carbon build up on cooking equipment can taint food and may possibly affect oven temperature control.
It is clear that tough cleaning is called for; aggressive cleaning using hazardous cleaning agents that can only be handled by qualified technicians.
Bright Hygiene have been in business since 1978 and were the pioneers of grease filter exchange services. Members of the British Safety Council they remain fully committed to keeping people safe and healthy at work. You will find their Safe Contractor Certificate and current Public & Employee liability insurance proudly displayed on their website.
They consider themselves a regulated company in a non regulated industry, as there was no rule book they made their own.
Unlike many providers their pricing is both standard and transparent. Irrespective of time of service their pricing remains the same. A reliable, flexible 24/7 provider that unusually will not tie you into a service contract. Clients may choose from a one off clean to regular fully managed services.
Bright Hygiene www.brighthygiene.co.uk and their sister company Just Filters www.justfilters.co.uk have long operated an independent Customer feedback system called ‘The Customers’ View’ ™.
This system allows them to get unbiased feedback on the services they offer, monitoring customer perception for quality, punctuality, service level and friendliness of the team. In the last 18 months this feedback system has recorded that 97.3% of customers are satisfied with their service.
Service certificates are provided at all times and copies retained off site. If you enter into a grease filter exchange agreement their service will commence with a risk assessment based on the type and volume of food cooked. Exchange frequency will be agreed and a replacement set of filters purchased by them. A typical exchange will be every 4 weeks and takes less than 5 minutes.
The question is – can you afford not to? Bright Hygiene and Just Filters can be contacted on 0800 093 7840
http://www.lilacjames.com/marketing-seo-agency-cambridge/pr/
T: 0800 093 7840
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