At the core of every business is risk. The risks you take on and the strategies you use to protect your employees and your investment can make the difference between long-term success and disaster.
For restaurants and professional kitchens, hot oil handling and potential grease buildup are two of the biggest risks at play. According to Pete McDonnell, president of Independent Insurance Review, LLC in Indianapolis, burns and fires are an exceptionally disastrous event. “When a location burns down, for example, it’s not just that it costs money to rebuild the location. That’s also 30 or more employees who are suddenly out of work for three to four months during the rebuild.”
Bottom line, it all can mean a lot of personal anguish and a LOT more in restaurant insurance premiums. So how do you get out ahead of the problem?
Finding a safer solution for oil and grease is essential
Operators looking to lower their insurance costs and create a safer environment should look to new technologies for solutions. Restaurant Technologies Total Oil Management® and AutoMist® systems offer automated solutions to two different — but connected — challenges associated with oil and grease in foodservice.
Total Oil Management eliminates hot oil handling
By using the Total Oil Management system, fresh oil is cycled in and used oil cycled out automatically. No dumping or straining, no schlepping tubs of oil, and no risks of spills or burns.
McDonnell notes that the list of liability and workers’ compensation exposures avoided by this system is long. “Think about what insurance claims are all about when it comes to commercial insurance,” he points out. “It’s about risk management. Restaurant Technologies’ systems help eliminate the human element in multiple steps throughout the process of handling hot oil.”
AutoMist prevents grease buildup, protects against fires
If Total Oil Management takes care of every drop of oil within the fryer, what about the airborne oil? How do you automatically take care of that once it’s settled into the hood? That’s where AutoMist comes in. The system automatically sprays a cleaning solution throughout the hood and flue on a daily basis, preventing grease from ever building up in the first place.
McDonnell and his team have been helping restaurant owners with both AutoMist and Total Oil Management installed to inform their insurance carriers. In light of the robust protection these systems offer, some carriers have been willing to reduce insurance premiums by up to 15%.
More than just lower premiums
While saving up to 15% on your business insurance premiums is a profoundly attractive scenario, Restaurant Technologies’ VP of Business Development Tina Swanson points out how much further the benefits go. Employees get a safer, cleaner environment. Not to mention they’ll never have to worry about some notorious kitchen dirty work ever again.
“One thing that I don’t want to get lost in the shuffle is how these solutions help take some of the worst jobs in a restaurant and eliminate them completely. Suddenly your employees are happier to come to work, and with the tight labor market that we’re currently experiencing, it’s hard to put a price tag on that.”
Want to know more about how AutoMist and Total Oil Management can decrease restaurant insurance premiums? Visit rti-inc.com/insurance-savings today to learn all about it!
