Below are five tips to ensure you meet the required legislation and your kitchen schedule is the best it can be.

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1. Ensure you meet the relevant legislation.

For small to medium businesses, the Food Standards Agency can provide resource packs to help identify the potential risks and hazards within a catering environment and how to reduce them. The packs also include useful templates that can form the basis of the workplace cleaning protocols.

For larger catering businesses, the procedures are expected to be more extensive due to the bigger spaces that need to be cleaned. Local councils can give guidance on how to design procedures and ensure they meet the relevant legislation.

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2. Introduce a cleaning schedule

A cleaning plan can be created by listing how often equipment should be cleaned. This covers both regular tasks, such as those that need to be performed at least on a daily basis, to larger tasks that may be completed every month, such as deep cleaning the catering fridge. These should all be documented and put into a plan, with space to log when this has been completed. These records should be kept as proof should the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) require it.

3. Avoid cross-contamination by colour coding

Colour coding is efficient in the prevention of the spread of bacteria. Four main colours are generally used in catering: red, yellow, blue and green. Each colour represents separate areas; for example, the kitchen and areas in which food is prepared or stored, such as the catering fridge, and public areas such as the restaurant, bar and toilets.

4. Maintain rubber floors

Rubber flooring is designed so that it doesn’t absorb spills, which means that spills and crumbs sit on the surface. The floor should be swept and mopped at least once a day and deep cleans should take place regularly. Spills obviously need to be dealt with immediately, especially if they are due to the failure of equipment such as the catering fridge. There is a Selection of catering fridges available at Fridge Freezer Direct and other specialists if you need a replacement.

5. Clean hard surfaces sufficiently

Ensure all crumbs and appliances are removed and use a sanitising spray to clean. If a deeper clean is required, the sanitising spray can be left on for ten minutes before wiping off.