Duct Cleaning | Ductwork Cleaning Services |ventilation cleaning

What do FM’s really know about the Fire Safety Order?

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:33:33 +0000

In March this year, Indepth Hygiene carried out a Fire Safety awareness survey, to identify and understand some of the common misconceptions Facilities Management (FM’s) companies have about the Fire Safety Order. The survey aimed at outsourced Facilities and Building Managers; investigated whether the group fully understand their role and responsibilities under the law, for fire safety matters.

The survey has revealed some interesting results, which provide some real insight into what this sector really knows about the Fire Safety Order. It was an encouraging start to see that 90% of respondents were aware of the primary compliance requirements of the regulation, which outlines that a responsible person must be appointed to carry out a fire safety risk assessment and implement and maintain a fire management plan. It was also reassuring to note that 54.5% of FM’s understand that as an appointed responsible person, they could be liable for criminal prosecution if death or injury is caused by a fire from an extract duct.

However, this is not reflected in results that indicate 75% of FM’s don’t realise that a fire risk assessment should be carried out more than once a year. In addition, more than 30% of FM’s do not realise that the properties they are responsible for are subject to a fire authority safety inspection.

The survey also addressed concerns regarding fire safety within a catering environment. The results show that only 66.7% of FM’s include grease extract system in their risk assessment, compared to 33.3% who do not. The latter is a result of 40% of FM’s believing that the grease extract system is the responsibility of the caterers as the equipment is part of the kitchen.

It is important that fire safety within the kitchen is a top priority held by both the catering team and FM’s. Fire and rescue authorities have recently gone on record, stating that buildings with catering facilities with grease extract systems pose the greatest risk to the safety of the buildings occupants.

Ultimately the fire safety order has been put in place to minimise the risk of workplace fires and the potential dangers to occupants. We hope that our investigation into fire safety has addressed some industry concerns and the four year old Fire Safety Legislation.

For more information about ventilation system services, specialist ventilation cleaning services, General Ventilation System Cleaning, Indoor Air Quality Monitoring, Grease Ventilation Cleaning, Local Exhaust Ventilation System and Expert Witness Service, visit our main site www.indepthhygiene.co.uk.

Uncleaned ductwork system likely to be cause of Brighton chip shop fire

admin — Tue, 03 May 2011 08:59:48 +0000

A chip shop on Brighton seafront was severely damaged by a fire at the start of the bank holiday weekend last week (according to the BBC). Over 40 firefighters tackled the blaze at the Beach Break Cafe at the Kings Road Arches on Thursday afternoon. Customers had been in the cafe when the fire broke out at about 1530 BST. The Umi Hotel on the seafront also had to be evacuated because of the smoke from the blaze.

The usually busy A259 was closed for a time while engineers ensured there had been no structural damage to the road. Sussex Police said no-one had been injured in the fire.

One customer who was in the shop when it started said: “We were sitting there having our fish and chips and all this smoke started coming out of the fan at the top and the next thing there were flames coming out.

“The fire brigade turned up within minutes and the flames were just billowing out.”

View an onlookers video of how the fire unfolded here:

YouTube Broadcast Video of events unfolding

Yet again it looks like a grease extract ductwork fire has occurred within a restaurant; this time at The Beach Break Cafe in Brighton.

It will be of interest to see if this gets the Fire and Rescue Services spending more time and resources on checking the condition of grease extract ductwork systems in restaurants across the UK.

ENDS.

The Indepth Hygiene Team.

Our services include:

Subscribe to the www.ductwork-cleaning-services.co.uk blog for more information about ventilation system services, specialist ventilation cleaning services, General Ventilation System Cleaning, Indoor Air Quality Monitoring, Grease Ventilation Cleaning, Local Exhaust Ventilation System and Expert Witness Service or visit our main site www.indepthhygiene.co.uk.

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Poor Hygiene and Safety Standards Continue in Hospital Kitchens

admin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:09:20 +0000

By Richard Norman – Managing Director, Duct Cleaning Specialist, Indepth Hygiene Limited.

Once again I read about hospitals which have been putting patients’ lives at risk by failing to ensure even basic food hygiene standards are maintained in their kitchens. According to a freedom of information report in the Sunday Times three out of four hospitals have breached minimum standards. In all 579 out of 752 kitchens were breaking regulations, of which 273 had not been properly cleaned.

It is clear that overall standards have not improved since the death of 19 patients as a result of poor practices in the kitchens at the Wakefield hospital in 1984. That incident lead to the Government lifting crown immunity from hospitals, but in spite of the shocking evidence of poor standards I have seen no report of hospitals being prosecuted.

This is in sharp contrast to the standards being achieved on another area of the Government – the MOD estate. Indepth Hygiene have been providing specialist hygiene and safety deep cleaning services for mess kitchens for many years. I know of not one military kitchen which does not have at least one hygiene and safety deep cleaning service each year and singularly, I do not know of any reported cases of the military failing to maintain standards.

Why this contrast? Whilst I would not claim deep cleaning solves all problems in kitchens it plays an essential role as part of an overall policy of good hygiene and safety practice.

Could it be a matter of money? The costs of putting good practices in place is nominal and any excuse they are not carried out because of budgetary constraints is unsupportable.

With fewer than 200 hospitals being given a clean bill of health there must be concerted action to improve standards. It’s my experience standards only improve where the kitchen operators know they will be prosecuted for compliance failures as they do in the Private Sector. The statement by a spokesman for the representative body for Environmental Health Officers that “Hospitals should not be treated differently from anyone else when it comes to prosecutions”, rings very hollow.

Only when EHOs exercise their rights to prosecute hospitals for hygiene and safety failures will there be a measurable improvement in standards. After all, they are the “policemen” for the legislation. Hopefully it will not require another Wakefield Hospital experience to goad hospital management into action.

Our Kitchen Deep Cleaning Services services include:

Kitchen Deep Cleaning Services : Kitchen / Catering Facilities

Ventilation System Services

Subscribe to the www.ductwork-cleaning-services.co.uk blog for more information about our kitchen deep cleaning services visit: www.kitchendeepcleaningservices.co.uk.

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Indepth Hygiene launch survey on Fire Safety Order for Outsourced Facilities/Building Managers

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:47:29 +0000

The Fire Safety Order (the Regulatory Reform [Fire Safety] Order 2005) has been law now for over 4 years, but as an FM or Building Manager, are you clear on your responsibilities?

Please take 5 mins of your time to complete our short survey – Click on the link below:

TAKE OUR FIRE SAFETY ORDER SURVEY TODAY AND WIN SOME iTUNES VOUCHERS

You will need to complete the contact details at the end of the survey to enter the draw for iTunes Vouchers. The survey will remain open until the end of March 2011, answers will be treated in confidence. The draw will take place early April 2011.

The Indepth Hygiene Team.

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Poor Performance of Expert Fire & Safety Consultants

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:53:59 +0000

In the February edition of Local Authority Building & Maintenance David Sugden of the Passive Fire Protection Federation comments on the poor performance of so-called expert fire and safety consultants.

My surveyors repeatedly attend properties where the owners/managers had retained advisors to assist meeting the requirements of the Fire Safety Order only to find that the grease extract ventilation system linked to catering facilities had not been included in the buildings’ fire risk assessments. This is in spite of the Fire Authorities having gone on record by stating “uncleaned grease extract ventilation systems present probably the greatest danger to occupants in buildings with catering facilities”.

Recent restaurant fires have underlined the truth of this. Grease deposits in uncleaned ducting caught fire resulting in destructive and widespread damage. There have been several other similar cases in the past.

Fortunately to date no one has lost their life as a result of one of these fires. If that were to happen then the building managers/owners and their advisors would be liable to criminal prosecution.

The legislation is quite clear. All potential sources of fire which might put building occupants in danger must be identified in Fire Risk Assessments and action taken to eliminate or at the very least to minimise the risk. Failure to do so will result in prosecution and substantial fines.

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Fire at Gregg’s Bakery prompts timely reminder of importance of Fire Safety compliance

admin — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:35:45 +0000

In a recent court case, Gregg’s, the nationwide network of bakeries, was fined £50,000 with £20,000 costs for being in breach of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 on a number of counts at one of their outlets. it was reported that management had disregarded warnings from the London Fire Brigade about fire safety offences found as a result of a routine Fire Authority inspection, which also recommended that the company review it’s fire safety policies and training procedures throughout the Group.

After pleading guilty the company was handed down a substantial fine with hefty costs. The chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority commented “In these tough economic times it is important that companies do not take their eye off the ball when it comes to making their business safe from fire.”

This is yet another warning from the Fire Authority about poor compliance with Fire Safety law. A spokesman had already commented about premises where there is a grease extract system; “Uncleaned grease extract ventilation systems present probably the greatest potential fire risk in buildings with catering facilities”. Yet there have been numerous fires recently where grease deposits in uncleaned grease extract ducting had enabled the fire to become widespread and very destructive.

There can be no excuse for failure to have grease extract systems properly inspected and professionally cleaned to eliminate fire hazardous grease deposits. Thorough, professional duct cleaning to remove all fire hazardous grease deposits from the internal surfaces of the ductwork is essential.

The law is quite clear. Potential sources of fire which might endanger lives of building occupants must be identified and action taken to eliminate the risk. Failure to do so will result in the kind of substantial fines handed out to Greggs and, in the event that a fire causes injury or death, criminal prosecution could follow.

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Employers can help staff avoid the Flu Bug this winter

admin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:58:07 +0000

Everyone knows that the usual way to catch the flu is from someone else. All those Christmas get-togethers certainly sent the numbers with ‘flu soaring.

Now, with most back at work, there’s one aspect of the typical workplace which can be eliminated from the usual list of suspects for passing on the flu bug ~ the air conditioning system. That is providing its ducting has been thoroughly cleaned of dust and debris. Hospitals know all too well how uncleaned air conditioning ducting provides ideal conditions for the growth and spread of micro-organisms. The dust and debris which accumulates in the ducting invariably contains minute particles of human hair and skin, and research has shown that these are ideal nutrients for micro-organisms to thrive on.

The most certain way to eliminate air conditioning systems as a potential source for transmitting the flu is to have thorough hygienic duct cleaning carried out throughout the system, in accordance with the standard of excellence HVCA TR19. Only then can you be confident that the air conditioning system is doing what it is intended to do, provide healthy fresh air and germ free working conditions because employees are not breathing in infected air. It’s a simple action to take, it’s not expensive and it could result in considerable savings by reducing the number of staff calling in sick.

For further information and details on how to book your air conditioning system clean, email us here or call us on 020 8661 7888

Interview Spotlight: Duct Cleaning expert Richard Norman, Managing Director of Indepth Hygiene – Part 2

admin — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:00:29 +0000

Q5 What are the challenges to cleaning contracts in today’s market?

I think I have essentially answered this in my response to the previous question. There is however one worrying development which might have been encouraged by the financial climate to look for cost savings. Some businesses, notably restaurants and public houses, have been happy to retain extract ventilation cleaning services on the basis of price alone. The not too surprising result has invariably been inadequate cleaning with systems remaining potential fire hazards. As a provider of expert witnesses in court actions brought as a result of fires in extract ventilation ducting, we know of many instances where business owners and managers thought they had put in place a cleaning service to eliminate fire hazardous grease deposits in the ducting only to find as a result of a fire that the system had not been fully cleaned and grease deposits aided the fire’s spread and destructiveness. In these situations the business owner can find he has both a badly damaged business and a disputed claim because of non-compliance with the law.

Q6 How would you go about initiating a culture of best practice in your company?

As I have described, there are a number of cleaning companies who are not delivering a professional and compliant service. In the absence of a fire the poor work of many companies is escaping detection and unfortunately it’s probably going to take a serious fire in an extract system causing casualties to ensure that all companies provide a fully compliant service. I have therefore placed considerable emphasis on our service delivery quality being totally professional and compliant which means that when we provide a certificate of compliance it means what it says and our clients can feel confident their systems are safe and fulfil legal and insurance requirements. Of course we can only achieve and maintain high standards if our workforce are well trained and we have a running programme of classroom and on-job training not only in delivering the essential service but in the context of best health and safety practice.

Q7 What is your main business mantra?

Without a doubt it is delivering a professional service and to maintain our position as the UK’s ductwork cleaning expert – whether a client wants cleaning services or just help and advice. My company is a very active member of the industry’s representative organisation – the Heating & Ventilating Contractors’ Association. I am a member of the Ventilation Group of the HVCA who have been responsible for providing a recognised standard of excellence for the cleaning of ventilation systems – HVCA TR/19 – Guide to Good Practice, Internal Cleanliness of Ventilation Systems. If more buildings and facilities managers were familiar with this standard there would undoubtedly be fewer instances of poorly cleaned systems. Section 7 sets out clear standards to be achieved for cleaning grease extract ductwork and can be viewed on our website.

Q8 What mistakes can you learn from?

It is a cliché but all mistakes are our opportunities to learn. We spent years in the business thinking that because grease extract systems are linked to catering facilities that catering managers would be a prime target for our sales message. Its one of those instances where in spite of their being good reasons for them to have action taken to remove any fire dangers in the extract of their catering facility (particularly because they are responsible for putting the fire hazardous deposit in place!), they regard anything which is outside their facility (and a grease extract invariably runs away from the facility to within the main building) as the responsibility of the owner or manager of the building in which they operate. Clearly if there were to be a fire in the system the catering manager would inevitably be involved in any enquiry and they would still have a significant risk of liability. As a result of their apparent disinterest we now concentrate much of our effort in getting our message across to the ‘responsible person’ i.e. the facilities or building manager. The catering manager is not as pivotal to decision making as we mistakenly first thought.

Q9 What would be your big idea?

In the last 18 months we have been developing our ventilation system cleaning services with our focus on the cleaning of general extract and supply systems, usually referred to as air conditioning. Whilst uncleaned air conditioning systems do not present the fire dangers of uncleaned grease extract systems, dirty systems do present a potential health hazard to workplace occupants in the shape of transmission of flu and the common cold. In hospitals they are known to provide ideal conditions of temperature and humidity for the development and dissemination of healthcare associated infections such as MRSA. But there is another good reason for cleaning air conditioning systems – reducing energy consumption. Research carried out in the United States has shown enormous energy cost savings result from cleaning air conditioning AHU systems, coils, fans and ducting and installing energy saving filters. After all, Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning costs typically account for 70% of a building’s energy use so there’s a very good case to be made for seeking ways to reduce an air conditioning system’s running costs. Unfortunately whilst companies often know what their energy costs are, only very few know what individual services cost to run e.g. energy consumption costs for air conditioning only.

My hope is that, spurred on by the Government’s drive to reduce energy consumption and thereby reduce carbon emissions under the Carbon Reduction Commitment, companies will look at all possible ways to save energy and, if failing to take advantage of the opportunity to reduce energy costs of running air conditioning because of the absence of separate system measurement, will make the nominal investment required to install measuring devices. Cleaned air conditioning systems will deliver double benefits; a healthier more comfortable workplace provided at a significantly lower cost. So I am currently trying to bring together a number of relevant parties such as the measuring device suppliers, the world’s leading low energy filter supplier, Camfil Farr, and ourselves to offer a package that can provide measurable energy savings.

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Interview Spotlight: Duct Cleaning expert Richard Norman, Managing Director of Indepth Hygiene – Part 1

admin — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:24:12 +0000

Richard Norman is Managing Director of specialist ventilation hygiene company, Indepth Hygiene Limited. Here, Richard takes a few minutes to discuss his own background, his hopes for the company and his ‘big idea’ for 2011.

Q1 What is your main area of responsibility?

As Managing Director of Indepth Hygiene Services Ltd I am of course ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the company. Although it might sound like a cliché, I wouldn’t fulfil my role without having put a team in place on whom I can rely to make the right decisions without always referring back to me. It is my responsibility to establish clear strategy for the company, and from that springs the target objectives for each member of the management team. One of the advantages of being an SME is that we are able to respond quickly to any notable changes affecting the market for our services and make any adjustments these might call for in our overall strategy and, as a consequence, the objectives for the management team. It is important to have a plan but to be ready to fine tune it if opportunities arise which it would be misguided to ignore. Direction with flexibility is not the same as jumping from one idea to another.

Q2 Detail the expertise that you bring to your role

My background is in Marketing and as a qualified Company Secretary, not technical or engineering. Without doubt that means I am more focussed on the Marketing and strategy of the business rather than, for example, looking at how the essential services we provide might be changed. Its not a question of having a blinkered approach but the management team have considerably more technical expertise than I, and I rely on them to ensure any technical changes or potential improvements which might enhance our service delivery are brought to my attention so they can be fully evaluated.

Q3 Has the Industry changed significantly since you joined it?

When my father passed over the company to me in 1998 it almost exclusively provided specialist hygiene and safety deep cleaning services for catering and food production facilities. Whilst we continue to provide that service, the main driver of the business in recent years has been the demand for specialist deep cleaning of the extract ventilation systems, which are invariably linked to catering facilities and take grease laden cooking fumes to exhaust to atmosphere. The advent of the Fire Safety Order (the Regulatory Reform [Fire Safety] Order 2005) in October 2006 focussed the minds of those responsible for the maintenance of safe workplaces – most obviously facilities and buildings managers – on the need to have extract systems inspected as part of the Fire Risk Assessment discipline and cleaned of grease deposits which might pose a potential fire risk to building occupants. The requirements to carry out fire risk assessments and to take all necessary action to eliminate, or at the very least minimise any identified risks to the safety of building occupants is now a mandatory, legally enforceable responsibility for owners and managers of businesses. With Fire Authorities having identified grease extract systems as “potentially the greatest risk to the safety of occupants in buildings with catering facilities” there has been a steadily increasing demand for our specialist service so that today it accounts for nearly half our turnover.

Q4 What do you see as the main barriers to Indepth’s progression in the next 12 months?

As our services have a clear raison d’être i.e. to provide compliance with legally required standards there is no intrinsic barrier to the development of our business. If there are barriers, and I would describe them more as hurdles which are there to be overcome, they arise from the current general business background of financial constraints and the continued unawareness of many in building and facilities management of their legal responsibilities. To help clients overcome the financial constraints, we review all our quotations and tenders very carefully to see where there might be potential price savings and at the same time undertake not to increase our contractual prices for a minimum period of three years. To tackle the lack of awareness problem we undertake, on a continuous basis, promotions by way of ‘hard’ and ‘e’ mailings to our target market sectors, and at the same time have tried to make our website www.indepthhygiene.co.uk very informative within the context of promoting our services.

Q5 What are the challenges to cleaning contracts in today’s market?

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Duct Cleaning Video Highlight: Identifying whether a ducting system is in a hazardous condition

admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:12:12 +0000

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