Commercial kitchens in school cafeterias and college dormitories are designed to meet strict health and safety standards, accommodate high-volume food production, and provide nutritious meals to students in an efficient and organized manner. Some common features:
Industrial-grade cooking equipment: This may include commercial ovens, grills, ranges, fryers, steamers, and other specialized cooking equipment designed for high-volume cooking.
Food preparation areas: These may include spacious prep tables, cutting boards, sinks, and other food preparation stations for washing, chopping, and assembling ingredients.
Walk-in refrigerators and freezers: These are used for storing large quantities of perishable food items at appropriate temperatures to maintain freshness and safety.
Food storage facilities: These may include shelves, racks, and cabinets for storing dry goods, canned goods, and other non-perishable food items.
Dishwashing area: This may include commercial dishwashers capable of handling a large number of dishes and utensils efficiently.
Serving stations: These may include counters, warming stations, and other facilities for serving food to students.
Ventilation and exhaust systems: These are essential for maintaining a clean and safe kitchen environment by properly removing smoke, steam, and odors generated during cooking.
Safety features: These may include fire suppression systems, emergency exits, and other safety measures to ensure compliance with local health and safety regulations.
Owing to the complexity of the domain, starting 2023 we will break down the standards for education community safety and sustainability into two separate colloquia:
Kitchens 100 will deal primarily safety — fire, shock hazard, sanitation, floors, etc.
Kitchens 300 will deal with sustainability criteria in large commercial kitchens common in school cafeterias, dormitories, sports venues and hospitals.
Williams P. Clements Jr. University Hospital
Owing to the complexity of the domain, starting 2023 we will break down the standards for education community safety and sustainability into two separate colloquia:
Kitchens 100 will deal primarily safety — fire, shock hazard, sanitation, floors, etc.
Kitchens 300 will deal with sustainability criteria in large commercial kitchens common in school cafeterias, dormitories, sports venues and hospitals.
One of the concentrated risk aggregations in any school district, college, university and technical school, athletic venues and university-affiliated healthcare systems, rests in the food preparation units. On a typical large research university there are hundreds of kitchens in dormitories, student unions, athletic venues, hospitals and — to a surprising degree — kitchen facilities are showing up in classroom buildings. Kitchens that used to be located on the periphery of campus and run by private industry are now moving into instructional spaces and operated by private food service vendors.
Food preparation facilities present safety challenges that are on the same scale as district energy plants, athletic concession units, media production facilities and hospital operating rooms. There are 20 accredited standards setting organizations administering leading practice discovery in this space. Some of them concerned with fire safety; others concerned with energy conservation in kitchens, still others concerned with sanitation. The International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association is one of the first names in this space and maintains an accessible standards development home page; linked below:
The IKECA catalog of titles establish a standard of care for cleaning activity that fills gaps in related ASHRAE, ASME, ICC and NFPA titles. For example:
IKECA I10 Standard for the Methodology for Inspection of Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Systems
IKECA C10 Standard for the Methodology for Cleaning Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Systems
We encourage subject matter experts in food enterprises in the education industry to communicate directly with John Dixon at IKCEA (jdixon@fernley.com) or Elizabeth Franks, (215) 320-3876, information@ikeca.org, International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association, 100 North 20th Street, Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
We are happy to get specific about how the IKECA suite contributes to lower education community cost during our Food teleconferences. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Commercial kitchens offer several benefits, such as efficient food preparation and large-scale production, allowing businesses to meet high demand. They provide professional-grade equipment and ample space, enabling chefs to explore culinary creativity. Commercial kitchens also promote hygiene and food safety standards, with dedicated cleaning protocols and inspections. However, hazards can arise from the high-temperature cooking equipment, sharp tools, and potentially hazardous substances. There is also a risk of burns, slips, and falls, emphasizing the importance of proper training and safety measures. Adequate ventilation and fire safety systems are vital to prevent accidents and maintain a healthy working environment.
Public hearings on the proposed changes happen in Orlando, April 7-16.
This is a summary of the actions taken on the 2024 Comments on Proposed Changes to the ICC International Codes at the October 23-28, 2024 Committee Action Hearings #2 held at the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, California. Balloting of local building code officials is now underway.
Kitchen cooking ranks high as the causes of fire hazard in the built environment. ASHRAE 154 provides design criteria for the performance of commercial cooking ventilation systems. Education communities have hundreds of food preparation enterprises in school districts, residence halls, hospitals and athletic venues. It is not intended to circumvent any safety, health or environmental requirement; however we find a fair amount of drama regarding the competing requirements of fire safety and sustainability among subject matter experts. The stabilized version is dated 2022.
“Dutch Kitchen” / Artist Unknown
A noteworthy title in the ASHRAE standards catalog is ASHRAE 154 Ventilation for Commercial Cooking Operations. Food preparation enterprises in school districts, residence halls, hospitals and athletic venues and central features in education communities. Access to the 2022 edition is linked below:
The purpose of ASHRAE 154 is to provide design criteria for the performance of commercial cooking ventilation systems. It covers kitchen hoods, exhaust systems and replacement air systems, It is not intended to circumvent any safety, health or environmental requirement; however we find a fair amount of drama between partisans of air movement controls and energy conservation interests. Fire safety and the sustainability advocates are well funded voices.
There are no open consultations at the moment; but you may track release of any at the link below:
Titles in the ASHRAE catalog move swiftly; many of them consultations lasting less than 45 days.
Interior environmental air safety is a concern that cuts across many professional disciplines. Accordingly, we maintain this title on the standing agendas of several colloquia — Mechanical Engineering, Energy and Housing. Starting 2022 we will break out this the subject of a separate, dedicated colloquium See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Colleagues: David Conrad, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel
Kitchen cooking ranks high as the causes of fire hazard in the built environment. ASHRAE 154 provides design criteria for the performance of commercial cooking ventilation systems. Education communities have hundreds of food preparation enterprises in school districts, residence halls, hospitals and athletic venues. It is not intended to circumvent any safety, health or environmental requirement; however we find a fair amount of drama regarding the competing requirements of fire safety and sustainability among subject matter experts. The stabilized version is dated 2022.
Battle of the Bands broke its fundraising record, earning $21,000 this year for the Joe Espy Needs-Based Scholarship! 🤯 This scholarship helps UA students in need of essential financial assistance due to a temporary hardship or emergency. Read more: https://t.co/WbB8jUebbupic.twitter.com/pjmBdV1BHa
Thanks to YOU @ua_babh raised 630,624 pounds of food! 🎉 Huge congrats to @AuburnU for winning the competition this year! Together we raised more than 1.2 million pounds of food! 😱 More details about the competition → https://t.co/agP51r7xXfpic.twitter.com/SOQHVoTctX
Many people are surprised to learn what counts as a “drink”. The amount of liquid in your glass, can, or bottle does not necessarily match up to how much alcohol is actually in your drink. Even before the United States federal government withdrew from regulating alcohol, the conversation, and degree of agreement and attitude, remains remarkably regionally specific:
Today at the usual hour we review the standards, codes, regulations and best practice literature for the safety and sustainability of facilities for teaching skills needed for supporting families.
You could hear a pin drop in this room 📌 So focused practicing for their exam 🧑🏻🍳 pic.twitter.com/lHw20avgnL
This project was created a few years ago in Kentucky to bring awareness to farm safety through a dinner theatre is continuing to gain momentum in rural communities. The focus now is more on farm mental health and wellness.
Our Knott County Extension Office recently worked with UK student-athletes who conducted the Cats Holiday Toy Drive, spreading holiday cheer to children in Eastern KY 🎁
This program has been adopted or implemented by extension services and related organizations in several other states. This initiative uses short plays performed during a community dinner to educate farmers and their families on health, safety, mental health, and farm-related issues in an engaging, non-traditional way:
Nebraska — Cooperative Extension services have hosted events as part of the program’s expansion.
North Carolina — The program is active through local extension efforts.
Tennessee — Events have been held, often in collaboration with extension agents.
Virginia — Particularly notable in the Shenandoah Valley, where Virginia Cooperative Extension offices (e.g., in Rockingham County) partnered with local groups like Valley Urgent Care and Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapters to organize Farm Safety Dinner Theaters, adapting the UK model for community-based participatory approaches.
The program is designed to be replicable nationwide. The University of Kentucky provides an online Farmers Dinner Theater Toolkit for any cooperative extension service, community group, or organization to stage their own events, customizing scripts to local needs. This has enabled wider adoption beyond the original sites. These efforts focus on helping farmers by addressing critical topics like injury prevention, hearing loss, skin cancer, stress, and suicide awareness in a social, farmer-friendly setting that encourages discussion and behavior change.
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwBpic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
