20 July 2010
How to Maintain Cleanliness at Your Restaurant
Posted by Crystal under: Equipment Maintenance & Tips .
Cleanliness is one of the most important factors contributing to any restaurant’s success or failure. Dirty restaurant premises will not only cost you diners, having poorly cleaned dining facilities may result in the citations by the local health inspection department and other serious health code violations. Here are some tips on how to make sure your restaurant premises are in line with the local health and safety regulations:
Health and Safety Considerations. Your restaurant’s cleanliness standards should reflect local health code stipulations. Inform and educate your staff regarding what local code expects from a restaurant in terms of cleaning procedures. Create checklists to define how often a certain area of a restaurant or an object should be cleaned, what it should look like, etc.
Hire 3rd Party Cleaning Service. Many restaurants opt for hiring 3rd party cleaning service providers instead of hiring cleaning personnel directly. This has many advantages, and the major one is that you’re hiring cleaning professionals that have experience in cleaning restaurants, and these professionals are familiar with the safety and health regulations of your local area. Professional cleaning providers should always be checked for proper credentials, licenses, and accreditations.
Set up Cleaning Procedures. Examine the needs of your establishment to create proper cleaning routines and procedures. Depending on the size, the type of your restaurant, the average number of diners every night and other factors, you may require a thorough cleaning of entire restaurant premises on a daily basis. Other dining establishments may require detail cleaning weekly, with cosmetic cleaning activity throughout the week. Define what kind of cleaning services your restaurant needs, what kind of tools, cleaning solutions and chemicals you want your cleaning personnel to have.
Set up a Cleaning Schedule. Determine the frequency with which you want your premises cleaned, whether by professional cleaners or your personnel. Ideally, cleaning service should come in every night to ensure the highest level of cleanliness to the patrons for the next day. Many restaurants schedule the cleaning during the late evening hours or early morning hours, so that the customers do not have to see the cleaning process, just the end result.
Train Restaurant Staff. Make sure your regular personnel (kitchen staff, waiters, bar-tenders, etc.) are trained on how to upkeep restaurant’s premises in a clean condition. Educate your staff members to clean as they go and that their job is to constantly ensure the premises are pristine. All restaurant staff should be assigned clear cleaning tasks to be performed throughout the day to maintain the constant appearance of cleanliness at a restaurant. Train your staff to use common sense and safety precautions when cleaning. This includes removing food from the areas to be cleaned into proper storage units so that there is no possibility of cross contamination or cleaning chemicals penetrating food products. If using outside cleaning service, train your staff to always seal and store away all food products and ingredients before the cleaning crew arrives.
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