The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of proper ventilation in the workplace, but the fact is that ventilation has always been crucial for businesses in the hospitality sector. As well as keeping staff, kitchen workers, and guests comfortable in potentially smoky, smelly, and hot environments, ensuring that your premises are properly ventilated is key for safe food preparation and storage. Whether you run a bar, restaurant, motel, pub, or diner, your place of business must be properly ventilated – but how can you start improving ventilation in your workplace today?
Natural airflow for customers
Your customers are likely to spend more and make a return visit to your business if they feel safe, comfortable, and happy. A great way to improve customer satisfaction is by ensuring that there is plenty of natural airflow for your guests. Simply cracking open a window or door can go a long way in reducing unwelcome fumes from the kitchen and maintaining a comfortable temperature in busy hospitality businesses – just make sure that you don’t expose your guests to cold air and draughts if you want them to stick around!
Cooling systems for the main floor
Source: 227enterprise.com
While the main floor of your restaurant or bar must be kept cool, try to use discrete cooling fans and ‘easy on the eye’ systems that don’t stand out or look ugly – wherever possible, try to use cooling systems that complement the aesthetic of your business. Consider installing an air-conditioning system that you can easily adjust throughout the year to account for seasonal temperature changes. Remember to ‘zone’ your AC system to accommodate different areas of the floor. Popular options with US-based hospitality business owners include split-system commercial air conditioning systems and single-unit packaged air conditioners.
Ventilation for back-of-house
We’ve all heard the phrase ‘if you can’t stand the heat then get out of the kitchen, but that doesn’t mean your kitchen workers and back-of-house staff need to do their jobs in uncomfortable and potentially dangerous temperatures. The OSHA recommends that employers maintain temperatures of 68-78 degrees in the workplace, so ensure that your kitchen is kept as cool as possible with a ventilation system or suitable industrial fan.
Regularly check your AC and ventilation systems, including all fan blades, fan cords, and outlets, to make sure that they’re in good working order. This will reduce the risk of workers suffering potentially dangerous heat stress disorders such as heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and heat collapse, as well as removing potential irritants from the air. It will also enable your workers to store and prepare high-risk foods safely, reducing the risk of cross-contamination and food poisoning for your guests.
Invest in air purifiers
Source: filterqueen.com
Air purifiers can be a cost-effective way to help improve air quality in restaurants, bars, hotels, and other hospitality businesses. Air purifiers offer several advantages in air quality management. They can significantly reduce odor molecules, dust particles such as asbestos, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from paints or carpets, and even bacteria and mold spores that are invisible to the naked eye.
By using an air purifier instead of traditional mechanical ventilation systems or simple fans, many hospitality business owners can save money on maintenance and repair costs while still preserving air quality in the building. Since they don’t look like traditional ventilation systems, they are easy to add to existing architecture without significant changes that cost time and money.
Many air purifier models offer features such as silent operation modes that help reduce noise levels while still providing clean air in large spaces or small rooms such as guest bedrooms with limited space for airflow. Oftentimes these machines come with sensors that alert you when filters need to be replaced — this feature prevents contamination of the indoor environment when one has forgotten about filter changes for too long.
Monitor air quality regularly
This is essential to ensuring the health and safety of your hospitality business. As part of a comprehensive ventilation improvement plan, you should measure certain variables in circulation, such as temperature and humidity. This will provide valuable insight into any imbalances in air quality that can trigger health issues or create a less-than-comfortable environment for your guests and staff.
It’s also important to measure the amount of outside air that is being brought into the space. Too little fresh air can lead to stale odors, stuffiness, and in extreme situations even a build-up of dangerous concentrations of carbon dioxide or other airborne pollutants.
Finally, it’s important to bear in mind that different atmospheric conditions can affect ventilation performance. Monitoring your premises continually will help you identify and address any problems quickly so that all parties have the best possible experience while at your establishment.
Source: hd.digital
Consult with an HVAC expert
An experienced professional can inspect your property and recommend the ideal system based on your business’s specific needs. Not only will this help guarantee that you get the best technology and performance, but it could also help you stay compliant with local and national regulations.
It is also important to know that any system will require proper installation, maintenance, and repair in order to perform as expected. Hence, it is wise to ensure that there are technicians you can rely on for quality service should any breakdown occur. In addition, having an HVAC expert periodically inspect the premises for preventative maintenance purposes is strongly recommended as a way of optimizing energy efficiency, catching small problems before they become expensive repairs or bigger hazards, or just keeping your restaurant up-to-code with local building standards.
In conclusion, improving ventilation in your hospitality business is crucial for providing customers with a comfortable and enjoyable experience. There are several approaches to improving ventilation, including investing in air conditioning systems, setting up fans or air purifiers, and installing windows or vents. Additionally, keeping an eye on temperature levels to ensure you have adequate fresh air coming into the space is essential. Following these guidelines will help ensure your guests have a positive and pleasant experience while dining or socializing at your business.
