Did you know that most fires in commercial kitchens are caused by fat and grease build-up and faulty ventilation?

Scary, isn't it? And what's more concerning is that this vital maintenance is often overlooked or left for untrained staff to carry out.

Kitchen staff should clean the drip trays daily, but the deep cleaning of kitchen canopy, ducts and fans should be left to the professionals. Using untrained staff can lead to serious Occupational Health and Safety repercussions.

Neglecting to deep clean your kitchen canopy regularly is not only a fire hazard but a major health and hygiene risk.

The grease and fat build-up is a perfect environment for bacteria to breed. This build-up can drip onto surfaces, utensils or the actual food being prepared. Contaminated food is a kitchen's worst nightmare! In addition, the build-up of grease and oil can cause an unpleasant odor, which is far from the desired smell a patron wants from a commercial kitchen.

These grease and fats are also a perfect breeding ground for insects. Cockroaches and other unwanted insects feed off this build-up and before you know it, your kitchen has an infestation. All these health and hygiene issues can be avoided by regular professional deep cleaning of your kitchen canopy system.

Dirt, grease and contamination can cause havoc with your equipment. Grease build-up can cause excessive wear and tear on electrical motors causing them to fail.

Grease build up can aslo lead to your fans becoming unbalanced, this leads to excessive vibration that can be noisy as well as damage the fan motors.

Not complying with the Occupational Health & Safety Act and the Department of Health regulations can have serious consequences. Not only can the establishment be fined for non compliance, but you can be closed down until compliance has been met.

Besides the above - insurance claims should there be a fire can be rejected if you are not compliant.