Fire Safety Checklist

1. Does your facility meet your local fire code requirements? Can your customers and employees get out as easily as they got in?

• Are all entrances and fire exits unobstructed? Are they clearly marked and lighted?
• Are your aisles and spaces between tables wide and unobstructed? Is the number of people in your facility kept within the maximum capacity limit? Do you know what that figure is?
• Are the decorations you use for special events and holidays flameproof and noncombustible?
• Do you hold periodic fire drills? Do you know how to assist customers in an emergency, and where your point of reassembly is outside your facility?

2. Grease fires in cooking equipment and in hoods and ducts cause 34% of all commercial kitchen fires.

• Are your hoods, ducts and filters frequently and correctly cleaned?
• Is the automatic extinguishing equipment and exhaust system serviced regularly?
• Are the thermostats on your fryers operating correctly?
• Do you have a double-check system to be sure all cooking and warming equipment is turned off when you're preparing to close?

3. Does your facility accommodate a smoking section? If you do, keep in mind that 10% of all eating establishment fires are caused by careless disposal of smoking materials.

• Are your ash trays emptied only into covered metal containers?
• Is employee smoking banned in your work and storage areas?
• Are your used table linens stored only in closed metal containers?
• Do you provide ample safe-type ash trays for your customers?

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