To ensure that you can pass all the health inspections that can be required for your restaurant, you need a restaurant safety checklist. This will keep you on doing the right things that can ensure the health that anyone can get from your restaurant. It will avoid any harm and injuries that can happen in your restaurant. In this article, you will learn some things about restaurant safety checklist. It has a sample checklist for your daily safety in the restaurant. You will come to know some tips that you can use. You will also learn how to create a restaurant safety checklist. Are you ready to know these things? Get relaxed and keep on scrolling!

What is a Restaurant Safety Checklist?

A restaurant safety checklist is a list of things that you should do to ensure the safety of your restaurant. It may be a food safety checklist or a food inspection checklist. It can also include a kitchen inspection checklist or a kitchen cleaning schedule. The checklist has all the measures that you should do to keep your restaurant safe. It also ensures the health that your restaurant can give. It has some instructions to avoid harm and injuries to happen in the restaurant. This checklist is necessary so that your restaurant can pass the health inspection and all other safety inspections. Not only that, you can also provide a better service to your customers. They can be sure that all your foods are clean and healthy. It can also provide a safe workplace for your every employee. The injuries like cutting a finger with a kitchen equipment can be avoided. Restaurant is a busy place. Your staff hustle within the hours, and you have to ensure that they are working in a safe place. You should also ensure the safety of all your customers. You have to be completely sure that no one will get any disease from your foods. Or you can get in a lot of trouble. To avoid this risk, you must be sure to have a restaurant food safety checklist or a restaurant health and safety checklist. It will ensure that your restaurant will be a good place to eat.

Sample Restaurant Safety Checklist

Do you need to know what you should put in a restaurant safety checklist? Here is a sample health and safety restaurant checklist that you can refer to as you make your own checklist.

Food Maintenance

Freezer Maintenance

Preparation

Sanitation

Garbage Disposal

Staff Hygiene

Tips on Restaurant Safety Checklist

Do you want every restaurant inspection reports to be positive? Maybe you should have some tips in restaurant safety checklist. Here are some that you can use.

Give correct uniforms to staff. A proper attire can make your staff to work better. They can avoid all the possible accidents if they will have a good uniform. It is important that you will adjust the kind of the staff uniform according to the needs of the restaurant. Their uniform should make them move better and will not be a hindrance to their work. It should be simple and should not have many designs that will make the staff harder to move. It should present some staff hygiene that could ensure health for the restaurant. Yes, the uniform should be something cute for your brand identity. But you must know that you must put safety first.The restaurant should have a good ventilation. To avoid the restaurant from being hot and smoky, you must use a good ventilation. If your place will be extremely hot, all your staff can be so sweaty, and it will not be good for the restaurant. The sweat may go into the foods unknowingly, and it is also not good to look at. Imagine the staff with all the sweat handling foods. No one will want to buy with that kind of scene. You will be sure of bankruptcy if that will happen. Ventilation is important to keep a neat place. Do not think about the money you will spend for it. It only cost a little. You have to ensure that your place will have the right air. In addition, no one will want to visit a place that has no proper ventilation. It will be hot and sticky for all the customers, and they will never spare a visit to your restaurant.Make sure that the floor is not slippery. In the restaurant, there may be times that food can be spilled on the floor. You must do something to avoid that. You may use mats that can make the floor not slippery. Any safety audit also looks at the floor in ensuring safety. So, you must do something to avoid the possible problem of causing unsafety because of the restaurant floor. You must avoid grease at all cost. Use slip-resistant floormats that can keep the floor clean while the staff are working. You can pass the health inspection and you can ensure the safety of your workers and customers. No one will slip through the floor and get some injury.Use signage in your restaurant. Signage will truly help your restaurant. People can avoid the unnecessary accidents through it. They will be informed of the current situation that they have to deal with. If the floor is slippery, you can kindly put a sign that the customers should beware because it is slippery for the moment. If there is a damage within the restaurant, customers should know this to avoid any possible injuries. Put also instructions using signages so that it will be easier for the customers to know some things. Signage is a good way on how we can communicate to customers or to others. Have the responsibility to make these things and it will surely help the restaurant.Put the necessary equipment guards. Kitchen equipment like slicers should have an appropriate guard. These equipments can be a cause of lacerations. You must ensure safety about these things. You should not let any of your staff to experience this accident. In your kitchen health and safety checklist, be reminded to put equipment guards in your kitchen equipments. These are things that could prevent injuries. It could be a way of showing empathy to your staff. Avoid any possible accident.Have a fire safety program. Fire can happen especially in the kitchen where you always do a constant cooking. Your restaurant should have a fire suppression system which can give a big safety for the workplace in your restaurant. You should also have a fire safety training for all your staff. You may want to practice some fire drills so they will be acquainted on some ways that they can do if ever an event of fire will happen. Disasters like fire happen, so we must be quick in avoiding it and should know some things about it.Have good cleaning techniques. A dirty environment can cause accident. You have to clean the restaurant regularly. Have a good kitchen cleaning schedule that your staff can use. You can avoid any possible accident that can happen. You can ensure that you will give healthy foods. There should be no germs and bacteria that could be living in your restaurant. Food requires cleanliness. Be sure to apply it in your restaurant.

How to Make a Restaurant Safety Checklist

Are you about to make a health and safety inspection checklist for restaurants? Making a food quality checklist requires some steps. You should also include a kitchen equipment safety checklist. Well, if you are going to make a restaurant safety checklist, you can use the following steps:

Step 1: Train your staff. 

You must ensure that your staff members know some safety procedures. You must train them to do safety in the workplace. You must invest time in training them as this is the best way on how you can ensure safety in your restaurant. Customize some training process that you can use in the kitchen. It is the best part of the restaurant where they should get proper training. Tell them to get a ServSafe certification that they can get from the National Restaurant Association. It is good that your staff could have this certification. You can be confident that they are certified in keeping a healthy restaurant. Training programs can also help them to be equipped in all sanitation practices.

Step 2: Ensure that equipments are operated safely.

You must also train your staff on how they can operate the kitchen equipments rightfully. Fill your checklist with all the measures that can prevent any emergency in the kitchen. The staff must use the kitchen equipments in the proper way. They should follow the manufacturer’s instructions. They should also do everything to prevent any electrical hazards. They must check the cords of electrical appliances regularly and should not put them in wet areas. If there are any sign of damage to the appliances, they must stop on using it. They should have professionals to check the appliances regularly. Do not fix them by yourself.

Step 3: Have fire safety in your restaurant.

U.S. Fire Administration reported 5,600 restaurant fires each year. The main cause of the incidents is cooking. You have to ensure that your staff will be alert while cooking to avoid fires in the restaurant. There are essential things that you need to do when it comes to fire safety. You have to install some fire safety equipment. Put many fire extinguishers in your restaurant. The kitchen is not the only place where you can put them. Put emergency lights and provide a good back exit for the restaurant where you can put some signs on the way to it. Have fire suppression systems. When activated, it will put out the fire. You should also have some fire safety measures. You should keep away flammable objects from the cooking appliances.

Do not place dish towels near to it. Tell your employees to avoid baggy clothing that can cause fire. If ever you can catch a grease fire, your staff should have knowledge on how to put it out. Water is not good to use in it. Know how to exhaust the flames with a lid. Turn to the fire extinguisher if the fire still burns. You should also know how a fire extinguisher works. Teach all your employees on how to use it. Make sure that all your fire extinguisher are not low in fuel. You should also provide an evacuation plan for the restaurant, to be ready for an incident of fire. Put it in a place where everyone can read it. And also, remember to put off all your power sources when not in use.

Step 4: Prevent all injuries. 

Have safety rules in the workplace to avoid all possible injuries. To prevent injuries like lacerations from knives and broken glass, you should tell your staff members to be careful so that they will not hurt themselves. Provide them with gloves as a precaution. To prevent burns, staff workers should wear oven mitts. They should also have utilization of pot holders when cooking. To prevent sprains, you must educate your staff with lifting techniques to prevent injuries when shifting equipments or getting bulk ingredients. Be sure also to always wipe spills so no one will trip up on it.

Step 5: Give safety equipment to your staff.

As one of the things in your restaurant health code checklist, you must provide safety equipments to your staff members. Give them protective items that can ensure safety in the kitchen. You may give them some safety glasses, back support belts, or some dishwashing gloves. You can also provide an emergency supplies kit. Make them equipped with safety procedures in the kitchen.

FAQs

What are the Best Practices to Put in a Restaurant Safety Checklist?

The best practices that you should include in the restaurant safety checklist are safety procedures to prevent fire, giving safety equipment in the workplace, and prevention to all possible injuries. Also, you must put some measures that will ensure the cleanliness of the foods that you will serve. If you can do all this safety procedures, you can be sure that your restaurant will pass the health inspection and safety inspection.

Many people eat in a restaurant. As a restaurant owner, you must ensure that your restaurant is a place where they can eat in complete safety. You must prevent any possible incident that could happen. To do this, you may need a restaurant safety checklist. Do you have the same problem? This post can be a help to you. It has 7+ SAMPLE Restaurant Safety Checklist in PDF. You can use any template in making your own checklist. They are downloadable, editable, and printable. So what are you waiting for? Download now! Pick a template and make your own restaurant safety checklist!