Evacuation Diagrams for Food Manufacturing and Kitchens

Food manufacturing and commercial kitchen environments are among the highest fire-risk workplaces in Australia. The combination of open flames, high-temperature cooking equipment, grease accumulation, gas lines, and flammable cleaning chemicals creates conditions where a fire can develop and spread rapidly. Add to this the presence of cold rooms with locking mechanisms, ammonia refrigeration systems, and processing plant machinery, the emergency management challenge becomes clear.

Whether you operate a single commercial kitchen in a restaurant, a large centralised catering facility, or a multi-line food processing plant, AS 3745:2010 applies and evacuation diagrams are mandatory. These diagrams must reflect the specific hazards and layout of your facility, not just the generic arrangement of exits and fire equipment that might suffice for a lower-risk workplace.

Fire Hazards Specific to Commercial Kitchens and Food Production

Grease fires represent the single most significant fire risk in commercial kitchen environments. Deep fryers, char-grills, woks, and commercial ranges generate grease-laden vapour that accumulates in extraction canopies, ductwork, and on surfaces throughout the kitchen. If not regularly cleaned, this grease becomes a highly effective fuel source. When a grease fire ignites in a canopy or duct, it can spread rapidly through the extraction system into areas well beyond the kitchen itself.

Commercial kitchen fires frequently involve cooking oils with flash points that make standard water-based suppression inappropriate. Class K (cooking oil) fire extinguishers must be located at each cooking station, and evacuation diagrams must accurately show the position of each extinguisher type. Staff must understand which extinguisher to use on which fire class, as using the wrong agent on a cooking oil fire can cause an explosive vapour reaction.

Gas lines, both natural gas and LPG, run throughout commercial kitchens and food processing areas. In a fire or explosion scenario, gas supply isolation is a critical early step. Evacuation diagrams for gas-using facilities should identify the location of gas isolation valves and, where relevant, the role of the Chief Warden or a designated staff member in confirming gas isolation before emergency services arrive. This information should also appear in the Emergency Management Plan.

Cold Rooms, Freezers, and Entrapment Risk

Cold rooms and freezers in commercial kitchens and food processing facilities present a specific entrapment risk that is not present in most other workplaces. Walk-in cool rooms and blast freezers typically have doors that seal tightly to maintain temperature, and in older installations these doors may not have interior release mechanisms.

Under WHS regulations and the relevant food safety standards, all walk-in cool rooms and freezers must have an internal emergency release mechanism. However, emergency management planning must also account for the scenario where a worker is trapped in a cold room during an emergency, whether because the external alarm is not audible inside, because the person has suffered a medical episode, or because the emergency itself prevents staff from reaching the cold room.

Evacuation diagrams for facilities with cold rooms must clearly mark the location of all cold room doors and their external release mechanisms. The Emergency Management Plan should include a specific procedure for warden checks of cold rooms during evacuation to confirm all occupants have exited. In food processing plants with large refrigerated storage areas, this may involve multiple wardens conducting systematic checks of different zones.

Ammonia Refrigeration Systems in Food Processing Plants

Large food processing facilities, including abattoirs, dairy processing plants, frozen food manufacturers, and cold storage distribution centres, frequently use ammonia as a refrigerant. Ammonia refrigeration is highly efficient and cost-effective at scale, but ammonia (NH3) is a toxic gas that poses severe inhalation risk at concentrations above 300 ppm. A significant refrigerant release can be life-threatening.

Facilities with ammonia refrigeration systems are subject to the Major Hazard Facility provisions of the WHS Regulations where the quantity of ammonia on site exceeds threshold amounts. These facilities must have a safety management system that includes emergency response procedures for ammonia releases. The emergency response procedure, including the location of muster points on the upwind side of the facility, the location of ammonia detectors and alarm annunciators, and the location of personal protective equipment, must be reflected in the evacuation diagrams.

Workers in ammonia-using facilities must be trained in recognition of ammonia odour (which is detectable at concentrations well below toxic levels, providing an early warning), the appropriate response to an alarm, and the location of emergency eyewash stations and self-contained breathing apparatus. Evacuation diagrams that include these elements, not just the standard exit and fire equipment symbols, are a more useful emergency response tool for these high-risk environments.

HACCP Zones, Clean and Dirty Areas, and Evacuation Route Design

Food manufacturing facilities are divided into zones based on hygiene requirements under Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems. High-care and high-risk processing areas are physically separated from lower-care areas, with controlled access points, colour-coded clothing requirements, and separate airlock entry procedures.

These zone boundaries can significantly affect evacuation route design. A worker in a high-care processing area cannot simply exit through the closest door, because that door may open into a raw product area or a low-care zone in a way that would normally be prohibited. Evacuation diagrams must reflect the approved emergency egress routes from each zone, which may differ from the normal movement routes within the facility.

This creates a specific challenge: during a routine working day, access between zones is tightly controlled. During an emergency, the normal zone boundaries must be subordinated to the priority of safe evacuation. Staff must be clear, both from their training and from the evacuation diagram, that in a genuine emergency, zone boundary protocols are suspended and all personnel must use the nearest available emergency exit. Diagrams must show all emergency exits clearly, including those that cross normal zone boundaries.

Shift Work, Contractor Management, and Induction Procedures

Food manufacturing and processing facilities commonly operate on rotating shift patterns, including overnight and weekend shifts where management personnel may not be present. The evening and night shift crew must be as well-prepared for an emergency as the day shift. Wardens must be designated for each shift, and all shift workers must be trained in the Emergency Management Plan.

Many food manufacturing facilities also have significant contractor and labour-hire workforces, particularly in production areas. These workers may rotate between sites and cannot be assumed to know the specific emergency procedures of any individual facility. Site induction must include emergency management training, and evacuation diagrams must be positioned and designed so that a worker new to the facility can use them effectively without requiring additional explanation.

Loading dock areas and delivery zones at food manufacturing facilities often have independent access arrangements and may be occupied by drivers and delivery personnel who are not employed by the facility operator. Evacuation diagrams near loading dock areas should be clearly visible and include the assembly area location, as external contractors in these areas will not have received a full site induction.

Key Elements of Evacuation Diagrams for Food Facilities

Food manufacturing and commercial kitchen evacuation diagrams must capture a more comprehensive set of hazard-related information than standard workplace diagrams. The following elements are essential:

• All emergency exit locations including back-of-house exits, loading dock exits, and emergency exits from refrigerated storage areas
• Location of Class K fire extinguishers at cooking stations and Class B extinguishers near flammable liquid storage
• Location of fire blankets and wet chemical suppression system manual activation points
• Gas isolation valve locations (natural gas and LPG)
• Location of all cold room doors with notation of internal release mechanism positions
• Ammonia detector and alarm annunciator locations (where applicable)
• Location of emergency eyewash stations and safety showers
• Assembly area with clear notation of upwind direction for facilities with toxic gas risk
• First aid station locations
• Warden intercommunication points and Chief Warden control point
• Designated egress routes from HACCP zone areas that may differ from normal access routes

Get Evacuation Diagrams for Your Food Manufacturing Facility or Commercial Kitchen

EvacPath creates AS 3745-compliant evacuation diagrams for commercial kitchens, food manufacturing plants, cold storage facilities, catering operations, and food processing sites across Australia. We understand the unique hazards of these environments and produce diagrams that are accurate, detailed, and genuinely useful to staff in an emergency.

Send us your floor plan and we will deliver print-ready PDFs in 3 to 5 business days. No site visit required. Pricing starts at A$70 per diagram. Basic Package A$280 for up to 4 diagrams, Standard Package A$420 for up to 8 diagrams.