Restaurant employees may have different roles – hosts, servers, managers, food handlers and more – but every team member should be trained about food safety. Create clear, thorough training procedures for new and existing restaurant employees, so there’s never a question regarding who’s in the know about food safety measures. To help prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses, engrain the importance of thorough cleaning and sanitizing procedures with your restaurant staff.

Here are three implementation tips: Develop a food safety risk mitigation plan. Practice active managerial control throughout the flow of food. This includes anticipating potential foodborne illness risk factors and then controlling or eliminating them, which entails identifying risks, monitoring them, providing corrective action as needed, and management oversight.

Build a master cleaning and sanitizing schedule. Look at key timeframes for your restaurant. When do employees’ shifts start?  When are peak times for your customer base? Where are your “hot spots,” or potential contamination areas? This review will allow you to determine your restaurant’s typical cleaning and sanitizing frequency and, ultimately, which employees should carry out these tasks. Make your scheduling document accessible and easy for employees to understand.

Demonstrate cleaning and sanitizing procedures. During employee training, show staff how to clean and sanitize food contact surfaces. Also show staff any buckets, towels or other equipment you’ve designated for cleaning and sanitizing purposes; these items should never come into contact with food, due to contamination threats. Walk through how to clean and sanitize these items and how to dispose of any associated waste, like dirty water. Share how they can verify sanitizer concentration levels, according to manufacturers’ instructions. Source: This content was provided by National Food Safety Month sponsor Tork.