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What Safety Equipment Does a Restaurant Need?
Safety equipment in your restaurant is not optional, it is a legal requirement and is crucial for protecting your staff, customers and business. Cutting corners with safety in your restaurant can have serious consequences, both legally and practically. However, it can be quite hard to know exactly what you need: Government guidance is often vague at best, yet the consequences for safety failures will be born solely by you, the proprietor.
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This guide will discuss all the major categories of safety equipment any restaurant needs, from fire safety to ventilation. We will also discuss Health and Safety legislation and registration which affects restaurant owners in the UK and how to fulfil your health and safety obligations.
Fire Safety in a Restaurant
Fire is the most important safety concern in any café or restaurant and there are a number of different steps you will have to take regarding fire safety, and a number of expense items. We will first address the equipment you need and then address the paperwork and regulations that restaurant proprietors need to comply with.​​
Fire Safety Equipment in a Restaurant
​The most important type of fire safety equipment you will need are fire extinguishers, and there are a number of different types of fire extinguishers for different kinds of fire, all of which are important to have for different emergency situations. Commercial kitchens need water or foam extinguishers for general fires involving organic materials, carbon dioxide extinguishers for electrical fires which are a big risk given the amount of electrical equipment in kitchens, and finally wet chemical extinguishers which are designed for kitchen fires, especially those involving cooking oils and fats, for which water extinguishers are unsuitable.
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You will also need fire blankets, which are very useful for small fires which are common when cooking, caused by cooking appliances, deep fryers, toasters etc. Fire blankets can put out a small fire quickly causing a lot less mess and being less expensive to replace than a fire extinguishers. It is also a legal requirement to have other fire safety infrastructure like fire alarms, emergency lighting, smoke detectors, designated emergency exits and appropriate signage.​​​
Fire Safety Paperwork in a Restaurant
​There is a good deal of paperwork to be completed on fire safety as the proprietor of a restaurant in the UK. All retail premises have to complete a fire risk assessment of their premises. This can be self completed or carried out by a fire safety consultant. It is not as daunting as you might think, you can see guidance and the form that needs to be filled out from the government here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/642579892fa848000cec0fea/Fire_safety_risk_assessment_-_5_step_checklist.pdf. ​
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A responsible person for fire safety will have to be appointed, usually the owner or manager of the restaurant, and if things go wrong they will be the accountable person. They have to ensure that fire safety needs have been met, from including installing adequate fire detection and alarm systems like smoke alarms, ensuring the availablility and maintenance of suitable fire fighting equipment like fire extinguishers and fire blankets, maintaining clear and unobstructed escape routes and ensuring that there is adequate emergency lighting.
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Food Safety and Hygiene in a Restaurant
Food Safety and Hygiene are huge safety issues in any restaurant, to protect both the health of your customers and of your business. You can read about food safety and hygiene in UK cafés and restaurants here in greater detail, but in short there are two strands of food safety compliance in a commercial kitchen, 1) practical action, and 2) paperwork.
​It is a legal requirement for every food business which runs a kitchen to implement a food safety management system, the implementation of which will be checked during food safety inspections. Failure to maintain proper paperwork here can result in a significant hit to your food hygiene rating. The most common form of food management system is the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System (HACCP) which you can read more about here. In short, HACCP is a food safety management system which outlines your food safety procedures and plans which help you identify and control potential hazards during food preparation. You will have to keep logs for each Critical Control Point, recording how and when checks are carried out at each CCP, and detail corrective actions taken when hazards are detected or when something goes wrong.
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Other regular paperwork duties include keeping temperature records of fridges, freezers and batches of food, checked daily, and maintaining detailed cleaning schedules and records, documenting when cleaning duties were performed, what was done, and by whom.
The purpose of the paperwork is to ensure you plan and put into practice systems and processes that maintain high standards of food hygiene, ensuring food is prepared and cooked properly, avoiding cross contamination between cooked and uncooked food, reheating and cooling food safely etc. You will need to keep all areas, equipment and utensils clean and sanitised, and ensure staff adhere to a high standard of personal hygiene, wearing appropriate clothing and washing their hands regularly. Ventilation, Pest control, and proper lighting are also important aspects of Food Safety and Hygeine which could get you in trouble with the health inspector if not adhered to. ​
Ventilation in a Commercial Kitchen
If you have a kitchen which does any cooking - and cafés for instance won't - you will need to have professional kitchen ventilation. The extent of ventilation you will require, and its cost, will depend mainly on the type of kitchen you want to build, your menu and what you are preparing on-site. If you are Café just preparing sandwiches, for example, you may be able to get away with a minimal setup, but as you increase the complexity of your offerings and cooking equipment, your ventilation needs will increase in line. ​​
Ventilation Systems are both a legal requirement and important for making any serious commercial kitchen workable. Industrial Ventilation Hoods, which are placed over heat producing appliances like ranges and stoves extracting heat and gasses, are a key piece of equipment. Individual 8ft extractor hoods cost £800 - £2,400 and the more cooking stations you have the more you will need. Larger kitchens will need further sophisticated systems, with features like grease filters and odour countrol. Air in systems may be necessary to ensure a flow of fresh air to replace the air being extracted, and these can cost upwards of £4,500, excluding the costs of installation.
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Additionally you will need ductwork, which can cost over £100 per metre, holes may need to be cut in walls to allow air outside, and you will also have to pay professionals to install all the equipment. The cost of ventilation will easily run into thousands of pounds, and larger kitchens may require tens of thousands of pounds worth of ventilation.
Other Safety Precautions
A big part of taking proper safety precautions, alongside keeping your employees and customers safe, is insurance. Safety precautions can lower your cost of insurance, but also protect you in the event of a claim. The sad truth is that insurance companies will look for excuses not to pay out, they will try to argue that you did not take adequate precautions etc. so it is important to cover yourself as much as you can, and not be left high and dry by a claim which could destroy your business. This is why it is important to have safety signs, “Caution, hot surface,” “Wash your hands before handling food” “Caution, Wet Floor” etc. where appropriate. Failure to have adequate floor mats, wet floor signs etc. can open you to serious litigation in the event that an employee or member of the public gets injured - or claims they have been injured - on your premises.
Conclusion
Safety equipment in a restaurant isn't just about meeting legal requirements - it's an investment in protecting your staff, customers, and business. Regular maintenance of all safety equipment, proper staff training, and thorough documentation of safety procedures are essential parts of a comprehensive restaurant safety strategy. By maintaining high safety standards and proper equipment, you not only ensure compliance with health and safety regulations but also create a secure environment that builds trust with both employees and customers.