Duct Work Cleaning – Commercial Kitchen Cleaning in Peak Summer

Don't Neglect Kitchen and Duct Work Cleaning During Peak Summer Season

Duct work cleaning and hygiene in commercial kitchens is important for customer safety – and the reputation of your business – all year round. But for many food businesses, summer is the busiest time of the year, as well as being the hottest, making maintaining hygiene levels a bigger challenge than normal. 

Many restaurants and food outlets experience a summer surge in business for a number of reasons, and summer 2014 is no exception:

•  Restaurants, cafes and takeaways located in popular tourist locations will usually have a summer season and some will even close over the winter.
• As well as serving the local population, there is usually an influx of tourists to many UK cities and attractions.
• The school holidays – combined with an increase in families taking holidays at home in the UK – means that there are more people out and about during the day, looking for places to eat.
• The World Cup and Commonwealth Games, both taking place this summer, mean more people opting for takeaways or combining watching football on a big screen with a pub meal.
• The economic upturn is encouraging people to eat out more often, even if it's only a high street takeaway.
• Finally, this summer is already delivering far better weather than last year, and many people are keen to make the most of it, encouraging them to take advantage of longer summer evenings to socialise with friends and eat out more often.

But while food businesses relish the prospect of a summer boom, maintaining hygiene at this time of year is more challenging for a number of reasons:

• Higher use of kitchens means waste, dirt and grease build up more quickly – perhaps faster than daily cleaning can cope with.
• Kitchen staff are under extra pressure to deliver more meals to more customers, leaving them less time than usual to carry out vital daily cleaning.
• Summer is a time when staff are more likely to take their holidays, and when it is most likely that the business takes on temporary staff – which means that cleaning standards can easily slip.
• Higher ambient temperatures means food can go off more quickly and any bacteria present on surfaces can multiply to dangerous levels in a very short time.
• Higher temperatures also means that food smells are stronger and can attract unwanted pests from much further afield.
• Higher temperatures, even at night, within duct work means that any bacteria or mould present will breed faster; and, contaminated air is more likely to get back into the main kitchen (especially when the ventilation is turned off overnight), causing invisible but potentially serious hygiene problems.
• Insects and bugs of all kinds are in peak breeding season and looking for easy food sources for their eggs and larvae. This means there is an increased chance of infestations which simply adds to the hygiene problem as well as attracting unwanted attention from customers and hygiene inspectors.

Our advice:

These extra summer hygiene challenges can be easily minimised and managed with a strong daily cleaning regime, combined with extra help from a professional cleaning company. We recommend:

• Carrying out thorough duct work and kitchen extract cleaning at the start and end of the summer season. This is especially important for restaurants and takeaways with a high output of fried goods.
• Minimising the build up of hygiene problems in the rest of the kitchen with regular commercial kitchen cleaning – at least pre-season and end of season. This should include areas inaccessible to daily cleaning such as behind and under cooking and preparation units – even small amounts of food left in these spaces can attract insects, mice and so on.
• Minimising the impact on your business by choosing contractors willing to carry out cleaning at times to suit your opening hours. Ingot Services can arrange to clean overnight or at other times to minimise disruption to your business. If in doubt about the state of your duct work or other inaccessible places within the kitchen, get an inspection from a professional kitchen and ductwork cleaning contractor.

Call Ingot Services to arrange a visit on 0800 731 7892.

Ductwork Cleaning: Ingot Services Cleans Kitchen Extraction Systems

Fire Insurers Set for Ductwork Cleaning Crackdown

When restaurants fail to carry out vital ductwork cleaning, the risk of grease build-up causing fires isn't just a theoretical possibility. It is a real and present danger and is happening more frequently, as evidenced by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). 

Its figures show that the cost to insurers of fires caused by grease and dirt in extraction systems has more than doubled, from £25 million to £65 million, over just two years. But what's behind this increase, and how should businesses respond?

Reasons to Step Up Ductwork Cleaning

Already, a ductwork cleaning certificate is mandatory for fire insurance to be valid. However, looking forward, businesses can expect insurance companies to get stricter about this. They are likely to want to see proof not only that air duct cleaning has been scheduled, but also that its frequency is appropriate to the level of use. Increasingly, insurers are refusing cover to restaurants which don't arrange adequate cleaning, and they may even refuse to pay out after a blaze if it is caused by neglecting this precaution.

There are various reasons why your schedule may need to be reviewed. For instance, if business has picked up recently, kitchen extract cleaning could be needed more frequently than the statutory minimum of once per year. This is because more cooking means a faster build-up of grease. Another factor to consider is whether your menu has altered. A change in customer demand, the season or even shifts in food fashion could mean a change in oil or grease levels. For instance, if you cook more burgers and fry-ups than you used to, that is something to bear in mind.

Your cleaning timetable may also need a rethink if the opening hours of your business have expanded. Perhaps you are staying open later or opening at weekends, or you might have added a lunch service as well as evening dining. Any of these changes will put more pressure on kitchen extract systems.

A Shift in Thinking

All businesses obviously have to consider their budgets, and therefore there may be a temptation only to do the statutory minimum when it comes to scheduling maintenance. However, companies should think less about being compliant on paper and more about protecting their businesses from the risk of fire. 

If your catering firm has to shut down temporarily because of damage to your building, the costs will far outweigh those of preventing the fire in the first place. There is also a risk that customers will go elsewhere during the shutdown and be lost for good. And, of course, no price can be put on the risk to human life posed by any fire.

All this means that professional advice is needed about the optimum frequency of duct cleaning for your particular business to ensure fire safety. The officially recommended levels are that extract ductwork should be cleaned annually if there is only light use of the kitchen, for up to six hours a day. However, if usage goes up to between six and 12 hours daily, six-monthly cleaning is needed – and if usage is between 12 and 16 hours, which is the case with many busy commercial kitchens, you need to schedule it in every three months. 

About Ingot Services

Ductwork cleaning experts Ingot can carry out inspections as well as cleaning, and can advise on whether your current schedule is adequate. This is especially important if there have been any changes in the way the kitchen is used since your schedule was agreed. We provide a UK-wide service, including London, Suffolk, Norfolk, Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle. Call 0800 731 7892 or follow the link  for a free quote.

Industrial Kitchen Cleaning – Ventilation Cleaners – How Regular Duct Work Cleaning Can Help Prevent Restaurant Fires

Regular Industrial Kitchen Cleaning – A Vital Way to Minimise the Risk of a Restaurant Fire 

Regular industrial kitchen cleaning is vital - that’s the message from Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service after a blaze ripped through a popular Ipswich town centre restaurant.

Eight fire crews tackled the fire which broke out in the kitchen of at the Townhouse Restaurant in Orwell Place on the morning of January 8.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the blaze, but a spokesman for the fire service said it had caused ‘substantial’ damage to the venue.

The cause of the fire was accidental and it had started in the mesh filter of the extraction system, prompting a warning from the investigating fire officer for restaurant owners to regularly maintain their kitchen ductwork.

Officer Chris Gibbs, of Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service, who carried out the investigation into the blaze, said: “Fires in extraction systems are not uncommon. Kitchen extraction systems naturally become contaminated with combustible materials as they remove grease and other products from the kitchen during cooking; these build up over time within the filters and duct work. 

“The filters and ducting should be cleaned regularly to help prevent this and to remove combustible materials.”

He emphasised, however, that regular industrial kitchen cleaning regimes were in place at the Townhouse, and added that he was unsure whether there was a standard to which this should be done.

The blaze, in the kitchen extraction system, ripped through the entire ducting, breaking out at the joins, before spreading to the fabric of the building, causing damage to the first floor and roof.

To help prevent future restaurant fires, Officer Gibbs warned of the importance of industrial kitchen cleaning, saying the risk of fire within a property is increased if duct work is not maintained:

“Fire can spread quickly and unseen throughout an extraction system,” he said. ”It is likely to intensify and may not be seen until it breaks through. Regular cleaning of all parts of the system should reduce the risk of fire starting or spreading.”

He said there are various steps that all businesses should take to minimise the risk of fire. 

This includes completing a fire risk assessment which should take into account the sources of ignition, combustible materials present, and measures to lessen the risk of a blaze in the property.

The kitchen extract system and its ducting should be included in the risk assessment, and any fire prevention measures such as means to isolate the system and installing fixed fire fighting systems within it, to help put out the fire. Or, if it is safe to tackle the fire, the use of portable fire fighting equipment.

Businesses should also have an evacuation plan to ensure the safe exit of staff and customers.

Officer Gibbs said: “In the event of a fire, the best and safest advice is to isolate any apparatus if possible, raise the alarm, evacuate the building and call the Fire and Rescue Service.”

Businesses take time to recover from fire due to the potential delays with insurance payments, staff retention and possible loss of customer base, as well as the time it takes to replace damaged buildings and equipment.

Officer Gibbs added that the best way to ensure business continuity is to prevent a fire from happening in the first place.

Two chefs from the Townhouse raised the alarm at the first sign of smoke, and there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire.

Diversions were in place so fire fighters could tackle the blaze and investigate the cause of the fire.

Duct work cleaning must be carried out every two years by law, although Ingot Services advised that the busiest kitchens should have a more regular cleaning regime. 

Organising industrial kitchen cleaning, including regular commercial ductwork cleaning is one way to prevent kitchen fires. For complete peace of mind and a free of charge quotation, call us today on 0800 731 7892.

Duct Work Cleaning: How Often Should Your Kitchen Extracts Be Cleaned?

Is Duct Work Cleaning Every 2 Years Enough?

As a general rule, the minimum requirement for duct work cleaning is every 2 years, but for many businesses a more frequent schedule is vital. As a business owner, you have a duty to ensure that extract cleaning is carried out as often as necessary to keep air quality to acceptable levels. How quickly ducts and filters need cleaning will vary, depending on the type of use and type of occupants. 

The Law

Current legislation states that duct work cleaning must be carried out at least every 2 years for general systems, such as air conditioning for offices. However, there is a more frequent requirement for yearly cleaning of kitchen extracts and duct work. Although "every 2 years" or "every 1 year" is often regarded as the guideline, the law actually says each premises must be assessed on its own requirements. That means you need to call on professional expertise to get the frequency of industrial extraction cleaning right.

Under fire regulations, as well as those covering health and safety at work, the manager of any workplace must take action to eradicate any risks or keep them to a minimum. These rules make it a requirement to check kitchen extract systems in order to find any possible fire dangers, and act to remove them by ensuring any grease build-up is regularly cleared.  

Reasons You Might Need More Frequent Duct Work Cleaning

If you work in an establishment which has high levels of airborne dust or grease, it is likely your duct work will need to be cleaned far more frequently than the legal minimums. This especially applies to kitchens where equipment such as deep fat fryers, grills, wood or charcoal burners is used.

According to expert duct cleaners, in some hamburger restaurants using this kind of equipment, especially those open round the clock, duct work cleaning may be needed as often as monthly. For some other fast food outlets, the suggested frequency is around every two months, while a 90-day regime may be appropriate for most restaurants and works canteens. In some smaller restaurants, six-monthly kitchen extract cleaning is suitable, but you should get expert advice to decide on the optimum schedule for your particular business. 

Other types of business where frequent industrial extraction cleaning is necessary include manufacturing works, such as printworks and those handling paper or textiles. Workplaces close to an external source of pollution, such as motorways, factories or chimneys, are also likely to require duct work cleaning at shorter intervals than the statutory norm. In these types of premises, where there is heavy use, of up to 16 hours a day, the typical cleaning schedule should be every three months. When premises are in use for between 6 and 12 hours, that may come down to six monthly. 

Greater frequency of extract cleaning is also advised in any establishment with vulnerable occupants, such as kitchens serving schools, care homes and hospices. Ingot has carried out air duct cleaning for a care home group in East Anglia for the last five years, and liaises with facility managers at each site in the group to ensure  cleaning is carried out at a convenient time. 

How Can I Tell What Frequency is Right For Me?

Duct cleaning contractor Ingot can inspect your duct work and give you advice based on the last cleaning date and the current level of build up. We will also take into account factors such as the level of usage and the environment.

If you are unsure over the best schedule, the way forward is to take advice from a professional cleaning company. This will help to protect you under legislation and will also ensure that your duct work will always be kept to an acceptable standard of cleanliness.

Duct Work Cleaning – Follow the link to get in touch.

Ductwork Cleaning: Ingot Services Advises on Food Hygiene Ratings

5 Steps to an Excellent Food Hygiene Rating in 2014

An excellent food hygiene rating has become the new must-have accolade for food outlets everywhere – and ductwork cleaning is among the essential steps needed. Make 2014 the year to get this aspect of your business right. This is vital to preserve your reputation with new and existing customers and protect your business from negative publicity. As an expert duct cleaning contractor, Ingot can advise you on the best steps to take.

About the Food Hygiene Rating System

Anyone eating out in England, Wales or Northern Ireland will probably have noticed the “scores on the doors”. These are numbers displayed outside a catering business, which show its rating for hygiene. They range from 0 – meaning “urgent improvement needed” – up to 5, or “very good”. 

The ratings in Scotland are different, with companies either being awarded a “pass” grade or one of “improvement required”. Whichever system you operate under, your business should aim to achieve the top rating available. This will reassure your customers that food is handled hygienically and all possible steps are being taken to keep the premises safe, including meticulous kitchen extract cleaning.

1. Train all staff in Food Hygiene

It is a legal requirement for all staff working with food to have at least a Level 2 Hygiene Certificate in Catering. An Environmental Health Inspector will carry out an inspection every three years to ensure their knowledge is up to date, so you must ensure all members of your team regularly attend courses and are aware of any changes in best practice.  

It is also a good idea to have supervisors, managers and owners qualified well above the minimum, achieving a level 3 certificate, designed for anyone running a team of food handlers, or level 4, which equips workers to train others. This is not just a box ticking exercise to impress inspectors, but an important safeguard for your business and its customers. 

It is also good to give training to all employees, including waiters and bar staff, even if they are not actually handling food. This will ensure the awareness of hygiene runs through every level of your business.

2. Get staff on board

It is essential to tell staff about the food hygiene rating system and make sure they know how important it is to the business, and to their own jobs. You need to foster daily vigilance to ensure there is no danger of slipping into bad habits, such as skimping on kitchen cleaning or failing to schedule ductwork cleaning. Put measures in place to reward good hygiene and encourage people to spot and report any problems they might notice. Remember, your staff are your first line of defence in promoting good hygiene.

3. Review your regular cleaning regime

It is a legal requirement to have a properly documented cleaning rota, with adequate supplies of cleaning materials. However, what was a suitable cleaning regime when you started the business may not be enough as demands change. You will need to look at it again if your restaurant expands, you change the range of foods being served, or you buy different equipment and change the layout of your kitchen area. 

In the hectic atmosphere of a busy kitchen, with so many demands on your time, it is easy to put off reviewing your cleaning regime, but this is a recipe for problems. You must make it a priority to look at your daily routine and make any necessary adjustments.  

4. Back up with scheduled deep cleaning

Deep kitchen cleaning gives everyone a fresh start. Having this carried out regularly guards against hazardous build-up of dirt in areas which are not easily accessible every day, such as behind cupboards and appliances. Deep cleans demonstrate to staff the importance of hygiene and reduce the chance of problems.

5. Include invisible kitchen extracts and ductwork

Because kitchen extracts and ductwork can't be seen or accessed by staff, it is tempting to overlook the need for them to be cleaned regularly. However, these are potential sources of contamination, where grease, bacteria and germs can build up. If you fail to arrange ductwork cleaning on a regular basis, it can undermine other hygiene efforts. Dirty extracts and ductwork alone are enough for inspectors to withhold a good food hygiene rating, so you need to give full attention to these areas.

Ductwork Cleaning  – Click here to contact Ingot and find out more.

Duct Work Cleaning – Commercial Cleaning London – Kitchen Health and Safety

Duct Work Cleaning – Meeting Your Basic Health and Safety Responsibilities

As a restaurant owner, if you avoid duct work cleaning as part of your health and safety requirements, you are putting staff and customers at risk and could damage the reputation of your business.

Making health and safety a priority is a legal responsibility for employers and is designed to reduce accidents and provide a healthy work environment. The first step is to carry out a risk assessment to ensure that all the right safeguards are in place. 

Duct Work Cleaning

Although maintaining your duct work cleaning may not be one of the first things that springs to mind, the consequences of not doing so can be considerable, leading to a dangerous build-up of grease in the pipework. 

At a low level, avoiding duct cleaning can lead to staff sickness and lost work hours; but in the worst case scenario it can lead to fatalities, resulting from major incidents such as fires. By failing to tackle duct cleaning, you could face the possibility of legal action against you, which will damage the reputation of your restaurant, and may ultimately lead to business closure.

Duct work cleaning should be part and parcel of your risk assessment, and it is essential to assign a staff member with responsibility for this, which can either be you or a manager.  The cleaning work should to be carried out by experts, so it is important to call on a commercial cleaning company that specialises in this area – such as Ingot, which serves customers in London and across the UK. 

What Can Happen if You Don’t Meet Your Responsibilities

Staff off sick – Each year millions of work days are lost through work related accidents or illnesses. This can have a detrimental effect on your company as lost work days create a backlog that can be hard to catch up on. Small companies, in particular, rely on healthy staff to keep the business running. 

Damage reputation of business – If your staff or customers fall ill as a result of badly maintained duct work and air conditioning systems, this can have a knock-on effect on your business. Yet, organising the cleaning and maintenance is so simple to do: it just takes one phone call to the specialists who will take the worry out of your hands.

Risk of fatalities – Dirty duct work is a fire risk and can have potentially life threatening consequences. Contacting the experts in commercial kitchen cleaning can prevent fatalities and create a safe working environment. 

Insurance becomes invalid – If a fire breaks out on your premises and the cause is down to the lack of duct work cleaning, this can invalidate your insurance; the costs can be considerable and could ultimately lead to business closure.  

Potential court cases – If a staff member sustains a work related injury, this can leave you wide open to legal action.  However, having a regular maintenance programme will avoid this by showing that you have taken your health and safety responsibilities seriously, and will save money in the long run by avoiding pricy legal battles.

About Ingot Services

To find out more on how Ingot can help with your duct work cleaning and to obtain a free quotation for their services, telephone Ingot on 0800 731 7892 or click on the above link.

Ductwork Cleaning – Commercial Cleaning Contractors – Germs in Your Air Conditioning

Ductwork Cleaning – Ingot Services puts the spotlight on germs that can be harboured in your air conditioning duct work.

Germs, Bugs and Other Nasties that Can Thrive in Your Air Conditioning Ductwork

Whether you run an office based organisation or are in the hospitality trade, it is vital to the health and safety of your staff and customers that you organise regular professional ductwork cleaning. 

Air conditioning can harbour all sorts of germs, bugs and contaminants; so if cleaning and maintenance work is overlooked, this can create an unhealthy work environment and contribute to staff sicknesses and absences. 

Some employers put ductwork cleaning on the back-burner because they are worried about cost and don’t see it as a priority, but professional duct cleaning is essential for your organisation. As well as being important for the health of your employees, it also saves money in the long run as it prevents lost hours from staff off sick, so will help your business run more efficiently. 

Here are three contaminants that can be harboured in unclean air conditioning ductwork:

Mould and Fungi

Mould and fungi thrive in areas of warmth and high humidity and can be found in parts of the air conditioning duct work, such as the internal insulation, the coils, and in the air conditioning filters. Their spores are carried through the air, so mould and fungi will multiply if there are any leaks in the system. 

These contaminants can be detrimental to health as moulds produce mycotoxins, which are toxic to humans, and can cause breathing difficulties, allergic reactions, fatigue, mild fever or headaches in some people. 

To minimise the risks, it is vital to organise the services of professional commercial cleaners, such as Ingot, who will not only clean your air conditioning duct work, but also inspect it for leaks. 

Dust Mites

The existence of dust mites in a home or business isn’t down to the air conditioning system alone – as dust mites can be found everywhere such as in upholstery, carpets, and clothing – but having a thorough clean-out will help. 

Although dust mites are too tiny to be seen with the naked eye, the chemicals in their droppings can trigger allergies and asthma. 

So, the more dust there is in your air conditioning system, the bigger  the problem. Maintaining your system, and keeping the ducts clean, will help control the population and prevent dust mite excrement re-circulating throughout your business.

Germs and Bacteria

An alarming recent study in China showed 75 per cent of the air conditioning units tested had filters that contained the bacteria that caused Legionnaire’s disease, a form of pneumonia that can be fatal. 

A separate study, led by the European Respiratory Society in 1997, revealed that those working in air conditioned buildings were found to be two and a half times more likely to have breathing difficulties, than those who didn’t. 

It is important to prevent this by regular professional duct cleaning – as germs and bacteria trapped in dirty air filters will just be circulated around your office building, posing a health threat to staff and visitors. 

About Ingot Services

Ingot provides a full, thorough, and competitively priced ductwork cleaning service which also includes inspections and filter cleans. To find out more and to obtain a free quote, contact Ingot on 0800 731 7892.

Duct work cleaning – Disasters That Can Occur if You Avoid Good Kitchen Hygiene Practices

5 (Scary) Disasters that Can Happen if You Put Duct Work Cleaning on the Backburner

Don’t put your air conditioning and duct work cleaning on the back burner - that’s the message from Ingot! If you avoid calling on the experts for regular air conditioning and grease extract cleaning, the consequences can be devastating for your restaurant and your staff. With Halloween just gone, here are five horror stories that could turn into a real-life nightmare if you don’t maintain your duct work:

Don’t Get Burned

Did you know that as many as 6,000 fires are caused by cooking appliances in commercial buildings per year? Recent years have seen a number of high profile blazes caused by the lack of duct cleaning – including a fire in Brighton’s oldest Italian restaurant at the start of 2013. The sad fact is that fires such as this one could so easily be avoided with proper kitchen hygiene practices and regular grease extract cleaning. However, according to Erimus Insurance brokers as many as 80 percent of restaurants avoid this to cut costs. It just takes one stray spark to ignite the grease and the consequences could be fatal. 

Avoid Exposure to Disease

Lack of duct cleaning can create a host of health hazards, from the aggravation of existing allergies and minor breathing problems, to worse, potentially fatal diseases such as Legionnaires Disease, a severe form of pneumonia. The legionella bacteria are known to thrive in water, including manmade systems such as air conditioning systems. However, you can reduce the risk of disease and illness by organising regular air conditioning cleaning and duct work cleaning. 

Prevent Vermin in Your kitchen

As well as being a breeding ground for bacteria, dirty grease extract ducts can attract mice and other rodents – the last thing you want in your kitchen when the health inspector calls! Vermin can contaminate food with bacteria, such as Ecoli and salmonella, which can threaten the health of your staff and customers and could threaten the future of your business. 

Keep Your Finances Afloat

While some restaurant owners are worried about the initial cost of duct work cleaning, proper hygiene standards will save you money in the long run and prevent a possible disaster. Restaurants that don’t employ proper hygiene standards could face a fine or prosecution and, if a fire breaks out in your premises as a result of unclean grease extractor ducts, the chances are you won’t be covered by insurance.

Save Your Restaurant’s Reputation

If word gets out about poor hygiene practices at your premises, resulting in illness or an outbreak of fire, this can cause untold damage to the reputation of your restaurant and ultimately result in business closure.  

The best way of avoiding any potential disasters in your kitchen is by employing good hygiene practices, which includes regular air conditioning clean ing and duct work cleaning. Just contact the experts, Ingot Services, today on 0800 731 7892 for a free of charge quotation.

Ductwork Cleaning – Preventing Restaurant Fires Caused by the Build-up of Grease

Ductwork Cleaning – What Three London Restaurant Owners Are Wishing They Had Done

If you are a restaurant owner, avoiding good safety and hygiene practices, such as regular ductwork cleaning, can have catastrophic consequences – as three London restaurant owners discovered to their peril on the same day earlier this year (July, 2013). All of the fires detailed below started in the ventilation system, and London’s Fire Brigade warned that the likely cause of all three blazes was the lack of commercial duct cleaning.

At the start of the day, more than 20 fire fighters tackled a morning blaze in a Central London restaurant in Lisle Street. Station manager Charlie Pugsley said the fire started in the building’s ventilation system, and urged businesses to keep their equipment clean to prevent the build-up of grease and fat.

The nine people who were in the building at the time were uninjured in the blaze, which ravaged the building’s ventilation system and tore through part of the basement.

In the afternoon, 21 fire fighters took just over an hour to bring flames under control in a restaurant in Boundary Road, St John’s Wood; the blaze wrecked two floors of the eatery’s extraction system.

Finally, crews issued another warning to restaurant owners after four people escaped unscathed from a takeaway restaurant in Bartholomew Street, Southwark. The blaze - which occurred just over an hour after the second incident - was severe enough to completely destroy the shop’s ventilation system.

A spokesman for the London fire brigade warned restaurants to take heed and have the right measures in place for ductwork cleaning to prevent a build-up of cooking materials which can cause a fire.

How to Prevent Duct Work Fires

Unfortunately, fires caused by a lack of ductwork cleaning are not just possible in theory, but almost inevitable if the restaurant owners don’t have proper measures in place to eliminate the build-up of dirt.  

If grime and cooking materials are not cleared from the ventilation system, a stray spark can ignite the grease, due to the presence of flames and high temperatures involved in the general cooking process.

The consequences of poor hygiene practices can be catastrophic, as they will not only put staff and customers at risk, but can also cause damage the business as a whole.

Restaurants with ductwork that has not been cleaned by competent specialists also almost certainly aren’t insured in the event of a fire – so a fire could be more than just a temporary blip in your business.

However, restaurant fires can be so easily prevented by regular duct cleaning, and this is simple to organise. Just contact Ingot Services, the experts in commercial duct cleaning, who will take all the worry out of your hands.

About Ingot

Ingot provides a complete duct cleaning service which also includes inspections and filter cleaning. Give Ingot a call on 0800 731 7892 for a free of charge ductwork cleaning quote and get complete peace of mind today.

Duct Cleaning – Are You Meeting Your Duty of Care?

Duct cleaning is an essential part of maintaining your buildings. The legal requirement for duct cleaning (link to law article) is all based primarily around the need to exercise a “duty of care” towards people who spend time on your premises. Failing to arrange regular duct cleaning can present significant health and safety risks to your staff, your customers and to people in adjoining premises. But what exactly are these risks, and how serious are they?

The risks, and the seriousness of those risks, vary depending on the type of premises and business you are running, as well as the vulnerability of the occupants. Here are some typical types of premises requiring regular duct cleaning.

Duct Cleaning - contact Ingot today for a free quote on 0800 731 7892.

Duct Cleaning for Commercial Kitchens

In a commercial cleaning there will be two types of duct that require regular cleaning. The first is the kitchen extract system, which takes out steam and smoke from stoves and ovens. Kitchen extracts accumulate grease and dust over time which not only provides a breeding ground for microorganisms, but also poses a significant fire hazard. If a kitchen is located within a larger premises (e.g. within a hotel or adjoining other properties) then a lack of duct cleaning poses a fire risk to the whole building. Duct cleaning is therefore essential in all commercial kitchens to protect staff and customers from fire and microbial contamination.

Elsewhere in the kitchen may be additional general air ducts which require cleaning in the same way as other air conditioning ducts. Even if these ducts are away from the main cooking appliances, they will still tend to clog up more quickly, especially if there are fryers and grills in use.

Ideally, kitchen extract cleaning should be carried out as part of a comprehensive kitchen cleaning regime, including regular cleans and deep cleans of the entire kitchen. There is little point, for example, in arranging a deep clean of your kitchen, only to have significant levels of airborne microbes coming from the kitchen extract system and landing on surfaces and food.Ingot can conduct kitchen extract cleaning and kitchen deep cleaning on a scheduled or one-off basis to ensure the safety of your staff and customers.

Duct Cleaning - contact Ingot today for a free quote on 0800 731 7892.

Duct Cleaning in Medical Settings

If you run a hospital or nursing home, your duty of care is significantly increased and there is a need for especially thorough and frequent duct cleaning. Occupants of these medical settings are particularly vulnerable to infection from airborne micro-organisms and need to be protected from them to a greater degree than other people. Regular duct cleaning is an essential part of the ongoing fight against MRSA, for example.

While the law asks for duct cleaning to be carried out at least every 2 years, medical settings may require more frequent cleaning. However, duct cleaning can be disruptive, so it is advisable to carry out regular inspections and testing, along with very regular filter changes, to assess exactly when cleaning is necessary.

Duct Cleaning - contact Ingot today for a free quote on 0800 731 7892.

Duct Cleaning for Schools

Young children are also more susceptible to sources of airborne infection, so it is very important for schools to carry out regular duct cleaning in all their buildings. Ingot have particular experience of carrying out duct cleaning in schools and have recently won a contract to carry out school duct cleaning for Coventry City Council.

Duct Cleaning for Offices

Occupants of office blocks will tend not to be as vulnerable as those in schools and hospitals, but duct cleaning remains important even here to prevent the transmission of infections. Ducts which are not regularly cleaned can harbour bacteria and mould of all kinds, which can, over time, have a noticeable impact on the health of office workers. “Sick Building Syndrome” for instance, has been proven to be a real phenomenon and has been traced directly to ducts which have not been cleaned frequently enough. As well as making office workers feel generally unwell and more prone to colds and flu, there is obviously an impact on businesses from lost productivity due to sickness absences. All this can be avoided by scheduling regular 2-yearly duct cleaning.

Duct Cleaning in Hotels

Hotels owe a duty of care to all guests staying at the hotel, as well as staff who work there. And ensuring good air quality is an important part of that. Any hotel with ventilation ducts needs to arrange regular inspections and cleaning to ensure that mould and bacteria do not build up to dangerous levels. This risk is exacerbated in any building where there are higher ambient temperatures and higher moisture levels present – and hotels fall into this category. In a hotel where each room has an ensuite bathroom and most guests can be expected to have a bath or shower on most days, moisture levels can become a significant problem. Good air conditioning systems can assist greatly with this, but the ducts used for the air conditioning need to be regularly cleaned to avoid a build up of dust.

How to Meet Your Duty of Care

Meeting your duty of care is actually extremely straightforward. Simply employ a reputable duct cleaning firm who are HVAC certified to carry out duct cleaning to the necessary standards. Then arrange for regular inspections and cleans on a schedule appropriate to your setting. Having your duct cleaning on a schedule makes planning around them easier, and the costs involved more easily budgeted for.

Ingot provide duct cleaning services to private businesses and as well as to organisations owned and run by local authorities.

Duct Cleaning - contact Ingot today for a free quote on 0800 731 7892.