As it looks like pubs restaurants across England and Wales can open indoors on 17 May, business owners are now putting in place safety measures to keep customers and staff safe. In addition to providing hand sanitiser, a one-way system, social distancing measures and notices about the wearing of masks, you also need to think about how you’re going to clean your premises thoroughly.
JDK’s specialist cleaners who are experienced in all aspects of commercial cleaning in the hospitality sector have come up with these guidelines to help you open safely.
Restaurant Cleaning Schedule
The starting point is to have in place a daily and weekly cleaning check list with specific cleaning responsibilities allocated to key staff members. Before you reopen, you should also carry out a deep clean of your premises including all toilets.
Your cleaning schedule should include more frequent cleaning of high contact points in your premises, such as taps and door handles. It’s worth asking your staff which areas they think are high contact too as this will help with buy in from staff when following these new cleaning procedures and will make sure you haven’t missed anything.
Areas and items you usually wouldn’t clean often, such as chairs and tables, will need to have a more frequent cleaning regime to ensure they are safe for guests from one sitting to the next.
Cleaning Appliances
As pubs and restaurants will be serving food, then it’s also vital to clean all kitchen appliances. These should include fridges, hobs, ovens, paninni machines, toasters and food preparation surfaces. Once they have had a thorough deep clean, these appliances should also be cleaned after every food service.
This is because your kitchen staff will be confined in a hot, confined space which is the perfect breeding ground for viruses like coronavirus, so cleaning (along with other safety measures) are very important.
You will also need to check all relevant ventilation systems in your kitchen and restaurant area. These can include extraction fans, air conditioning units and any other system you may have in place. Again, these will need to be thoroughly cleaned before you re-open and then checked and cleaned daily thereafter.
Staff Hygiene
Working in a restaurant or pub that serves food you should already have high personal hygiene standards in place, along with thorough staff training. Having good personal hygiene applies both in the kitchen and to front of house workers.
This should include adopting effective handwashing methods, wearing appropriate clothing including masks and undertaking training as necessary.
It’s a good idea to reinforce hand washing messages with visual reminders in the workplace. Display posters near sinks in your venue to demonstrate to staff and customers how best to wash their hands and remind them to do so often.
How JDK Cleaning Can Help
If all of this sounds daunting on top of everything else you need to get ready to re-open, call JDK Cleaning on the number below. We are not only experienced in cleaning a number of hospitality menus across South West Wales but we can also help to put together your cleaning schedule for staff.
Importantly, we can also carry out a deep sanitisation clean using our state-of-the-art Storm Ballistic Motor Scrubber cleaner. Get more details here.
