Disinfecting Your Inn’s Kitchen & Other Surfaces

Cooking for your guests daily is extremely time-consuming but worth it. While creating delicious meals, don’t forget the other side of cooking and arguably the most important — cleaning. Disinfecting the kitchen and other surfaces is crucial to help reduce risks and stop the spread of contamination. Don’t let nasty fluids and germs find their way onto cooking tools or into your meals.

It Starts With Training

Training your team in kitchen etiquette can help reduce risks immensely. Even the basics, such as cleaning up spills immediately, covering cuts and creating separate workspaces, can go far. Consider creating a handbook for kitchen cleaning and safety.

Keep It Clean

Always wash your hands after using the restroom, smoking, touching your face or eating. Hands also need to be washed immediately after handling raw meat, poultry or eggs. To wash your hands effectively, use soap and warm water. Rub your hands together for at least 20 seconds, making sure to wash your forearms and underneath your fingernails. Other suggestions include:

• Wear gloves when handling food.
• Avoid unsanitary activities such as chewing tobacco, smoking, coughing or blowing your nose around food.
• Avoid working if you are sick. Breathing near food when you’re ill can transfer germs or illness even without coughing or sneezing directly into the food.
• Cover cuts, burns, sores and infected wounds with a clean bandage. Preventing cross-contamination begins when the food arrives at your establishment.

Food Prep Areas

The prep area of the kitchen must be disinfected after each shift to be sure no one gets sick. Surfaces that come into contact with meat or vegetables are especially prone to germs. Utensils, prep tables and towels are all breeding grounds for bacteria. Here’s an easy way to be sure the area is disinfected thoroughly:

1. Wash the surface with hot, soapy water to clean.
2. Thoroughly rinse off the soap.
3. Sanitize with a chlorine bleach solution.
4. Air dry the surface.

The chlorine bleach solution can be made by adding a tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of water. This should be made fresh every shift because the bleach will break down and lose its effectiveness over time.

Dedicate Specific Areas For Each Task

Staying organized is the key to an easy cleanup. It’s also one of the main ingredients to ensure there’s no cross-contamination. Give each kitchen task its own designated space. Cutting, peeling and boiling must be done in separate areas so bacteria have less of a chance to transfer from one surface or object to another.  

Clean Up Spills & Messes Up Immediately

Large messes made in the kitchen should be cleaned up immediately. What might be a little spill, could result in a harmful slip and fall thus resulting in a nasty claim. Cleaning up messes when they occur can also reduce the chances of cross-contamination and stains.

Cleaning Your Inn’s Kitchen Floors, Walls & Ceiling

Over time, grease and other food particles can find their way onto the walls, ceiling and floor. Consider cleaning the walls and ceiling bi-weekly and the floor every single day.

Dish Area Precautions

Make sure that all bacteria are gone by following these procedures whenever washing dishes:

1. Wash pots, pans, glasses, dishes and utensils with hot, soapy water in the first bay.
2. Rinse off the soap in the second bay.
3. Sanitize pots, pans, glasses, dishes and utensils in a chlorine bleach solution.
4. Air dry the dishes.
5. Put dishes away when they are completely dry.

Scrub Away Your Worries With CBIZ Innkeepers Insurance

While you can only control so much of what happens in the kitchen, the correct coverage can help with the rest. To learn more about protecting your business through CBIZ Innkeepers Insurance, connect with a member of our team.

This blog may contain scenarios that are provided as examples only. Coverage is subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy issued. The information provided is general in nature and may be affected by changes in law or the interpretation of such laws. The reader is advised to contact a professional prior to taking any action based upon this information.

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