Health inspections are a regular occurrence in the life of a restaurant owner. Many times you will have little to no warning of these inspections, which means it’s important for you to prioritize outstanding health standards and initiatives at all times at your restaurant.
You might consider staying ahead of health inspectors by conducting your own in-house inspections every week. These inspections can uncover areas in which your restaurant needs to be performing better as well as help you identify when you need help with your equipment, such as freezer or ice machine repair in Delaware. Here are some examples of steps you can take to prepare for health inspections and to ensure your restaurant will meet stringent health standards at all times, from the building itself to your commercial restaurant equipment:
- Self-inspect using the same forms: Use the same forms, or at least forms that are very similar to those used by your health department. Check with the health department in your area about what specific forms and regulations are used and what types of standards they have. Health departments will be happy to help you with these issues—they want you to be prepared for your inspections and to be proactive about ensuring a sanitary, healthy workspace.
- Make sure your staff is on the same page: Your entire staff should understand the regulations and expectations you have in place for health and sanitation in the kitchen and restaurant as a whole. If you have any staff members who speak English as a second language, make sure you translate all cleanliness standards and any results of self-inspections for them so everyone is on the same page about what needs to be done to keep the restaurant in tip-top shape.
- Prioritize certain items: It’s important to know what your priorities are when you perform your own self-inspection. Examples include food cooking time and temperatures, personal hygiene (such as washing hands) and preventing cross contamination.
- Have reminders in place: It can help to place reminders in your kitchen to make sure people follow the proper cleanliness and food safety standards. For example, post signs at all kitchen sinks and in restrooms about washing hands. Post signs on refrigerators or above appliances reminding of the dangers of cross contamination and best practices for avoiding it.
- Train all managers: Every single one of your managers should be completely up to date with all of the food safety techniques you want to implement. This means you should also regularly review your local area’s health code for specific requirements applicable to your establishment.
- Follow up with all staff: Once you have completed your own self-inspection, you should follow up with everyone on staff about your findings. Include areas that need improvement, as well as areas in which the restaurant is currently performing quite well.
By following all of these steps and developing your own routine self-inspections, your restaurant will be well prepared for a visit from an official health inspector. You will also be able to more easily stay up to date on appliance and beverage system repairs in Delaware. For more tips and information about maintaining standards of safety and cleanliness for your restaurant and your commercial restaurant equipment, contact the team at Commercial Equipment Service today.