Managing Cooking Equipment to Reduce Fires

Operating your restaurant requires a great deal of attention to the details. You need to consider the quality of every plate that goes out to your guests. And you need to ensure the location is clear, modern and featuring smiling servers. You have a lot to do. What you can’t do, though, is ignore the importance of having a well-managed kitchen that keeps cooking equipment in good working order. In fact, your restaurant insurance depends on it.

Reducing Risks with Your Equipment

Properly maintaining cooking equipment is essential for everyone that operates a restaurant. However, you also need to consider the importance of having a kitchen that’s operating at peak efficiency and with minimal safety risks. To do that, it becomes important to put a great deal of attention on ensuring those systems are properly maintained. These tips can help reduce the risk that you’ll have to make restaurant insurance claims for fires brought on by this equipment.

• Read through each item’s instructional manual to determine what the planned maintenance on that item is. Organize a chart that shows how frequently each piece of equipment needs attention.
  
  
• Assign a specific member of management to ensure the equipment is maintained. This should include outlining the daily tasks necessary for that piece of equipment, as well as weekly, monthly and six-month service.
  
  
• At least once every six months, have your equipment properly inspected by a licensed technician. The goal here is to ensure the equipment is inspected for potential problems and properly secured.
  
  
• Train employees how to use the equipment according to the manufacturer’s requirements. That’s important – you need to ensure it is being used properly and safely.
  
  
• Teach employees to report problems with the equipment right away, including maintenance concerns, cleanliness concerns and overall functional changes. This way, you can tackle those concerns right away.

When it comes to restaurant insurance, your policy is in place to minimize your risk of having to pay for losses brought on from equipment failures, fires or other covered claims. However, maintaining your equipment properly should be the first and most important step you take. With the proper maintenance and upkeep plan, you can be sure your property is always working at its best possible level.