Food and Drink
risk review report
Business Sector Risk Review Reports are created for each
and every occupancy category held within the FPA/
RISCAuthority Large Loss Fire database where sufficient
records exist for meaningful analysis and are updated
annually. They are designed to highlight the loss history in
each business sector to help inform insurance and risk control
choices, and provide brief bespoke best-practice guidance.
This data is best appreciated in association with local
information on F&RS response, AFA policy, and firefighting
water availability data which is available to RISCAuthority
members via the website (www.RISCAuthority.co.uk). The
data presented here spans the two years January 2012 to
December 2013; the complete database and analytical tools
may be accessed by members via the RISCAuthority website.
Pubs/Wine Bars/Bars
Sub category
Food and Drink fires account for 9.8% of all large loss fires.
Fires involving Pubs/Wine Bars/Bars account for 4.1% of all large loss fires and 41.8% of all Food and Drink fires.
Food and Drink
Pubs/Wine Bars/Bars
Food and Drink
Pubs/Wine Bars/Bars
Accidental
53%
38%
Causation
Time of fire
Deliberate
27%
40%
Unknown
20%
21%
Midnight - 6am 6am - midday Midday - 6pm 6pm - midnight
42%
16%
18%
24%
51%
11%
12%
27%
Impedances
Access
Acetylene
Inadequate
water supply
9%
10%
Food and Drink
77%
3%
70%
5%
Pubs/Wine Bars/Bars
32 Food and Drink fires of 273 had impedances, 3 of these had more than one impedance.
18 Pubs/Wine Bars/Bars fires of 114 had impedances, 2 of these had more than one impedance.
Resources
11%
15%
Cost of fire
Food and Drink fires account for 6% of all large loss financial loss, with a mean average cost of £493,972 per fire.
Pubs/Wine Bars/Bars fires account for 52% of all Food and Drink loss, with a mean average cost of £616,353 per fire.
Insurance component
Food and Drink
Pubs/Wine Bars/Bars
Material
damage
49%
53%
Business
Contents
interruption
27%
13%
27%
9%
Resources
4%
4%
Machine
and plant
3%
1%
Stock
Other
1%
1%
3%
5%
These statistics are based upon information supplied by loss adjusters to the FPA on a voluntary basis and not all insurers conducting
business in the UK contribute to this dataset. They represent only sums paid out where the total loss is in excess of £100K and are deficient
of losses under £100K, deductibles, under-insurance, uninsured, self-insured and captively insured components, which may be significant.
In a year, total losses captured typically account for 50% of the ABI declared annual fire loss figure - which is similarly deficient of the same
components (except the £100K threshold).
THE UK's NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION
Protecting people, property, business and the environment
FPA BUSINESS SECTOR RISK REVIEW REPORT FOR RESTAURANTS IN PUBS, BARS AND WINE BARS
Fire safety legislation
In common with virtually all businesses, a fire risk assessment
should be undertaken in compliance with the Regulatory
Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (or equivalent legislation
in Scotland and Northern Ireland) for restaurants in pubs,
bars and wine bars. It is unlikely that an assessment will also
be required in accordance with the Dangerous Substances
and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) 2002
unless LPG cylinders are used for cooking and heating.
All upholstered furniture and furnishings should comply
with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety)
Regulations 1988.
Fire hazards
In addition to the potential ignition sources present in
most commercial businesses, there are some additional
hazards associated with restaurants in pubs, bars and
wine bars. These include:
• Cooking, including the use of deep fat fryers.
• The use of open flames, such as when cooking with
woks.
• Inadequate cleaning of extract filters, hoods and ducts.
• Deliberate fire raising.
• Electrical hazards from poorly maintained electrical
equipment and installations.
• Hot work undertaken during conversion or
refurbishment of the building.
• Inadequate fire separation of kitchen and dining or bar
areas.
• Combustible decorations introduced into the bar areas
for Christmas or other festivals.
• Keeping escape routes clear of tables and chairs.
• Poor access for firefighters and their vehicles.
Risk control recommendations
The following risk mitigation measures should be
considered to eliminate or reduce the risk of fire in
restaurants in pubs, bars and wine bars:
• Review the fire risk assessment whenever there are
significant changes to the layout of the tables, potential
sources of ignition and combustible materials present.
A specific fire risk assessment should be considered
when functions such as weddings and parties are to be
held, when the layout of the tables, the decorations and
activities may differ from normal.
• Understand the properties of decorative materials being
used and potential sources of ignition that may be
present; plan to keep these hazards apart. For example
avoid hanging or placing decorations within 0.5m of all
forms of lighting.
• Undertake a specific assessment of the kitchen
extract ventilation based on the guidance provided in
RISCAuthority Recommendations RC44 as part of the
fire risk assessment.
• Give careful consideration to the likelihood of deliberate
fire setting at the time of the fire risk assessment and
implement any security measures that are identified.
• Avoid carrying out hot work wherever practicable.
Where hot work cannot be avoided require contractors
to follow the requirements of RISCAuthority
Recommendations RC7 and remove any acetylene
cylinders at the end of each work period.
• Purchase electrical equipment for the kitchen that is
designed for commercial, rather than domestic, use.
• Where appropriate, equipment intended to be used
or installed in washing areas should provide a degree
of ingress protection to at least an IP55 standard as
defined in BS EN 60529.
• Arrange for portable electrical equipment to be
inspected and tested at least in accordance with HS(G)
107 and/or the IET Code of practice for in-service
inspection and testing of electrical equipment. The
period between each inspection/test should be
determined by a fire risk assessment.
• Ensure that electrical installations are designed, installed
and periodically tested by a competent electrician in
accordance with the current edition of BS 7671 (the
IET Wiring Regulations). Inspections should be carried
out on a risk assessed basis as recommended in the
Periodic Inspection Report.
• Site gas pipes and electrical equipment so that they
are not susceptible to the effects of heat, water vapour,
grease or mechanical damage. Do not locate water
pipes directly over deep fat frying equipment.
• Ensure that deep fat fryers are fitted with thermostats
set to prevent the temperature of the fat rising
above 205°C. In addition, fryers should be equipped
with a separate high temperature limit control, of a
non-self-resetting type, to shut off the energy source
should the temperature of the fat exceed 230°C.
Further information is set out in RISCAuthority
Recommendations RC16b.
• Ensure that gas appliances are equipped with devices
to cut off the fuel supply in the event of flame failure.
Devices should also be fitted that prevent gas being
supplied to burners when the extract system is not in
operation. (Similarly, the controls of electrically heated
ranges should be interlocked so that it is only possible
to switch the heating elements on when the extraction
system is operating.)
• Provide mechanical extract ventilation for all cooking
equipment producing heat, fumes and products of
combustion. Where heating is by gas, the heat and
fume extraction ducting should be separate from the
ducting used to extract combustion products from the
burners. Extraction should be via an overhead filter
and canopy arrangement with a ducting system that
discharges to the open in such a manner that grease will
not be deposited on the building or adjoining properties.
• Design extract ducting to be as short as practicable.
It should preferably pass directly to the open and not
pass through, or be contained within, floor or ceiling
voids, or roof spaces where exposed combustible
materials are present. Ducts should not pass through
fire compartment walls. (If it is not possible to install
the ducting in this manner, it should be enclosed in
a shaft of non-combustible construction having a fire
resistance of at least 30 minutes and with access points
to facilitate cleaning of the ductwork.)
• Ensure that the whole of the extract ductwork is
accessible for cleaning. At each change in direction of
the duct provide an opening with a grease-tight cover
for inspection and cleaning. Further information is
provided in RC44.
• Ducts, hoods and canopies should have a clearance
of at least 150mm from combustible material, including
partitions and floors. Where necessary, the space
should be filled with non-combustible insulation.
• Instruct operators as to the hazards associated with
the use of the deep fat fryers, grilles, hobs, ovens, bratt
pans and similar equipment and the location of the
emergency isolator switches and/or shut off valves.
• Do not allow cooking equipment to be left unattended
whilst the heat source is operating.
• Clean the surfaces of all cooking equipment, hoods
and canopies, ductwork, fans, burners and fixed
fire extinguishing equipment at frequent intervals as
determined by risk assessment (see RC44).
• Cooking should be undertaken in a fire compartment
designed to provide at least 30-minutes’ fire resistance
between the cooking area and other parts of the
building. Where a servery is present, a fire shutter having
at least 30-minutes’ fire resistance should be installed
so as to operate automatically on actuation of the fire
alarm. Maintain the area directly beneath the shutter clear
of trays etc so as to allow the shutter to close fully. The
shutter should be kept closed outside of working hours.
• Store waste cooking oil in a closed metal (or heat
resistant plastic) container located as far as practicable,
ideally at least 10m, from the building.
• Store LPG cylinders securely in a suitable cage
or cabinet sited outside and as far away from the
building as practicable. Further information is set out in
RISCAuthority Recommendations RC8.
• Protect the premises by installing an automatic fire
detection and alarm system, designed to an appropriate
category as defined in BS 5839-1 as determined by
a risk assessment. The system should be installed by
an organisation certificated by an independent UKAS
accredited third party certification body.
• Engage an off-site alarm receiving centre certificated
by an independent UKAS accredited third party
certification body, and operating in accordance with a
Category II facility as defined in BS 5979 to monitor the
automatic fire detection and alarm system and contact
a key holder in the event of an incident.
• Give serious consideration to the installation of a water
sprinkler installation when new buildings are at the
design stage. Sprinkler systems should be designed,
installed, commissioned and maintained in accordance
with the LPC Sprinkler Rules incorporating BS EN
12845 by a company certificated by an independent
UKAS accredited third party certification body.
• Provide a suitable number of appropriate portable
fire extinguishers (to include at least one Type F
extinguisher) even where an automatic sprinkler
installation is installed. Such portable extinguishers
should be approved and certificated by an independent,
third party certification body, be installed in accordance
with BS 5306-8 and be inspected and maintained in
compliance with BS 5306-3. Fire extinguishers should
always be immediately accessible.
• Liaise with the local fire and rescue service to ensure
that water supplies in the area are adequate for
firefighting purposes and for the sprinkler installation,
where appropriate.
• Have an effective emergency plan in place to ensure
the resilience of the facility. One way of approaching this
is to complete the ROBUST business continuity and
incident management planning software available free
from https://robust.riscauthority.co.uk/
Further information
1. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, SI 2005
No 1541, TSO.
2. The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, asp 5, TSO.
3. Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006, Scottish
SI 2006 No 456, TSO.
4. Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order
2006, SI 2006 No 1254 (NI9), TSO.
5. Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010,
SI 2010 No 325 (NI), TSO
6. Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres
Regulations (DSEAR), 2002, SI 2002 No 2776, TSO.
7. BS 5306-3: 2009: Fire extinguishing installations
and equipment on premises. Commissioning and
maintenance of portable fire extinguishers. Code of
practice, BSI.
8. BS 5306-8: 2012: Fire extinguishing installations and
equipment on premises. Selection and positioning of
portable fire extinguishers. Code of practice, BSI.
9. BS 5839-1: 2013: Fire detection and fire alarm
systems for buildings. Code of practice for design,
installation, commissioning and maintenance of
systems in non-domestic premises, BSI.
10.BS 5979: 2007: Remote centres receiving signals
from fire and security systems. Code of practice, BSI.
11.BS 7671: 2008 +A1: 2011: Requirements for electrical
installations (IET Wiring Regulations), BSI.
12.BS EN 60529: 1992: Specification for degrees of
protection provided by enclosures (IP code). BSI.
13.RC7 Recommendations for hot work, 2012, FPA.
14.RC8 Recommendations for the storage, use and
handling of common industrial gases in cylinders
including LPG, 2012, FPA.
15.RC16b Recommendations for fire safety in commercial
kitchens, 2013, FPA.
16.RC44 Recommendations for fire risk assessment of
catering extract ventilation, 2006, FPA.
17.Business resilience: A guide to protecting your
business and its people, 2005, FPA.
18.ROBUST software (Resilient Business Software
Toolkit): https://robust.riscauthority.co.uk
19.LPC Rules for automatic sprinkler installations
incorporating BS EN 12845: (Fixed firefighting
systems. Automatic sprinkler systems. Design,
installation and maintenance, BSI), 2009, FPA.
20.FPA Design Guide: The protection of buildings:
Core document: Protection of openings and service
penetrations from fire, 2005, FPA.
21.HS(G) 107: Maintaining portable and transportable
electrical equipment, 2004, HSE.
22.Code of practice for in-service inspection and testing
of electrical equipment, 2012, Institution of Engineering
and Technology (IET).
23.Fire safety risk assessment: Sleeping accommodation,
2006, DCLG.
24.Fire safety risk assessment: Small and medium places
of assembly, 2006, DCLG.