Cleaning Responsibility In Food Service: Every owner and or manager of a food service establishment should put cleanliness at the priority of their list. Cleanliness is so important that there are agencies dedicated to enforcing certain standards to ensure establishments are cleaned and maintained regularly.
My years of experience have shown me that most commercial kitchens lack a simple tool to ensure compliance and consistent cleanliness: A Hospitality Cleaning Checklist. You should be able to ask for assistance from your local health department or chemical salesperson. Without a checklist and wall charts, you are at the mercy of others to do the cleaning when they see fit.
Managers can use a checklist to assign certain duties that need to be completed every shift. At the end of the employee’s shift, the manager should be able to look over the list and sign off the completed jobs. This reduces the tendency to shift responsibility to another employee which often leads to the job simply not getting done.
Because each kitchen is different, checklists should be individually designed for your specific establishment. For example, the dishwasher should handle his area and possibly the pot and pans. Food prep personnel should be responsible for their area and possibly also help the line cooks. The wait staff needs to be involved as much as anyone because they are the front line with the customers. A general meeting with employees in advance of implementing this kind of program is essential to success. This is a perfect time to ask for assistance from your chemical vendor since it is a great time to have a training class also.
Next, it is the manager’s responsibility to ensure that instruction results inconsistent adherence to the new protocol. Monitoring and retraining others until all tasks are handled correctly may be necessary. If carried out appropriately, this type of program will save you money with no upfront additional costs.
Establishments without such protocols have reported the costs of not adhering to a cleaning checklist system:
- Potential fines from the local health department
- Lost revenues of lost customers
- Employees out sick because of potential cross-contamination
- Having to pay overtime or hiring a 3rd party to come in and deep clean your facility
Cleaning Responsibility In Food Service
Having a program in place actually improves morale because it is a team effort and responsibilities are shared by all for achieving this common goal- More customers at a better profit!