Good surface hygiene is critical to any and all foodservice operations. If you are satisfied with your surface cleanliness systems, keep up the good work and please share with us your system and standards.
Kitchen, service area and restroom surfaces are many and varied, all caring for the staff and the diners they serve. Each surface has its own reason for being clean. But some surfaces are clearly more risky in contaminating hands and entering the food flow. These surfaces deserve identification, standards of cleanliness and closer monitoring than most.
As in the Risk Assessment for ServeReady™ Hands, we suggest forming a temporary cross-functional team to see if the surfaces are contributing to a level of unnecessary risk - that risk which can be eliminated in the short term without a major capital investment. This team should minimally include Risk Management or Finance, Operations and Food Safety/Quality Assurance. Training, Human Resources and Purchasing also can be very helpful if a plan moves forward to implementation.
Most operators are less than happy with their hand hygiene compliance and concerned that staff hands, especially at busy times, are less than ServeReady™, presenting an unnecessary level of risk.
List of Potential Hot Spots in a Typical Kitchen:
Designate & Rank Your Kitchen’s Top 12 Potential Hot Spots:
Rank Your Service Area’s Top 12 Potential Hot Spots:
Rank Your Restroom’s Top 12 Potential Hot Spots: