Important Safety Codes and Standards
As part of its commitment to enhancing public safety, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) makes its codes and standards available online to the public for free. Online access to NFPA’s consensus documents conveniently places important safety information on the desktops of traditional users as well as others who have a keen interest. NFPA is committed to serving the public’s increasing interest in technical information, and online access to these key codes is a valuable resource.
Commercial kitchens see a lot of grease build up over time, and health and hygiene codes mandate that hoods and filters must be cleaned regularly. Not only does this create a cleaner food preparation station, but the safety of your employees depends upon it. Built up grease is a fire hazard, and regular deep cleaning is essential in ensuring that your assets and staff are protected. NFPA 96 provides preventive and operative fire safety requirements intended to reduce the potential fire hazard of both public and private commercial cooking operations
Social & Environmental Responsibility
One of the top trends in the restaurant industry today is Social & Environmental Responsibility, and a good percentage of consumers are now making their dining out decisions based on the establishment’s environmental impact. By having and using our new A1 Filter Box Clean & Capture system, restaurants can advertise that they’ve implemented new cleaning and waste disposal practices that are helping to reduce water pollution and promote more responsible grease disposal, in addition to any other environmentally responsible actions they might be taking.
Imagine a nice card stock tent on each table of your restaurant that features how many pounds of grease and gallons of chemicals you’ve kept out of your local waterways and your area sewer systems, plus any other sustainable or environmentally responsible actions they may take.
An excellent resource for restaurants is the National Restaurant Association, the largest food service trade organization in the world, with a mission of “advancing and protecting America’s restaurant and food service industry.” The organization’s web site has a lot of useful information for restaurants and commercial kitchens. One of the most valuable is: The State of Restaurant Sustainability 2018 report, with information about customer trends including environmental responsibility. We have included links for easier access.
In Chapter 9 of the E.P.A’s National Management Measures to Control Non-point Source Pollution from Urban Areas report, you will find this important point: “Restaurants are sometimes considered hot spots for non-point source pollution because they generate oils and grease that can contaminate runoff when disposed of improperly. Grease can also clog sanitary sewer laterals if sinks are not equipped with grease traps and increased maintenance of sewer lines. Poor housekeeping practices in the outdoor areas of restaurants, such as hosing off floor mats in the parking lot, can cause pollutants to come into contact with runoff.”
This thinking should pertain to the outside cleaning of hood filters as well. It should actually be an increased area of concern, due to the extreme build up of cooked on grease on them. The EPA is highly concerned about all polluted runoff, which will eventually wind up in our waterways. Keeping the grease and chemical runoff from hood filter cleaning contained, whether performed inside or outside, using the A1 Filter Box Clean and Capture System will eliminate the potential for fines or code violations.