Valor Services Group keeps commercial kitchens fireproof and clean

The risks of dirt and grease accumulation in the ventilation system in professional kitchens are still too often underestimated. However, proper cleaning of kitchen ventilation has a direct impact on fire safety in and around your catering business. Valor Services Group explains the importance of periodic cleaning.

Although legislation does not explicitly specify that the extraction system in commercial kitchens must be cleaned periodically, every entrepreneur is obliged to comply with European Directive 89/654/EEC on health and safety at work. In Belgium, this directive has been translated into fire safety rules laid down by the General Directorate for Supervision of Well-being at Work (FPS WASO) of the Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue. The 'Codex on well-being at work, Book III - Workplaces, Title 3 - Fire prevention at work' lays down fire safety in buildings. 

Founder, CEO and co-owner of Valor Services Group in Benelux Thierry Desmet explains: "This legislation applies to all buildings where work is carried out, such as offices, factories, shops, schools, hospitals, and therefore also commercial kitchens. There is also local legislation, which in some cases does explicitly state that ventilation ducts in commercial kitchens must be cleaned once a year by an approved company. An example of this is the police codex of Antwerp. Yet many hoteliers are not or not sufficiently aware of the risks associated with dirty extraction systems." 

A kitchen is considered a commercial kitchen when 20 or more meals are prepared per day. A lot of insurance companies have included a condition in their policies to clean ventilation ducts at least once a year. According to Valor Services Group, this is justified. "Fires have already broken out several times in professional kitchens because of grease accumulation in the extraction system. When this happens in a detached building, such as a free-standing restaurant or chip shop, the damage can still be limited," says Thierry. "In a hotel, the kitchen is usually on the ground or first floor. Or there is a restaurant located on the ground floor of a flat block. The extraction system usually runs over several floors. That is a very different story with much higher risks." 

Besides the direct impact on the restaurant itself, several groups of people then often have to be evacuated in the event of a fire. "So you not only risk damage and injuries in the main kitchen, but also in the hotel rooms or adjacent or upstairs flats. As an owner, you have to weigh the cost of periodically cleaning the ventilation ducts in your professional kitchen against the cost of that damage, the inactivity in your catering business and the effect of the image damage in the short and long term."

The Europe standard EN1587 clearly describes what to do and on what basis. A kitchen that only steams has less fat accumulation than one that fries continuously. "As a hotelier or restaurant owner, you need to consider what activities take place in your commercial kitchen and with what frequency," Thierry continues. "If you use an open grill, work with charcoal or there is a lot of wok cooking and therefore a lot of open flames, more fat will accumulate in the extraction system." 

With the new European standard, fat layer thicknesses are described and it is mandatory to clean ventilation ducts from a fat layer greater than 500 microns to comply with fire prevention. "Ideally, cleaning should take place once the fat layer is 200 microns or more," he says. Interestingly, the US is much stricter on this than Europe. American companies on European soil, such as fast food chains, clean their extraction systems several times a year. Not sure if you as a hotel meet the requirements or which frequency is appropriate for your professional kitchen? Our team is ready for a thorough inspection of the ventilation system and will give you specific advice based on this."