Creating a culture of cleanliness
Peter Teska, Global Infection Prevention Application Expert at Diversey, gives advice for business owners preparing for a new level of cleanliness.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has had an immense impact on the restaurant industry. A recent report forecasts losses of between 51% and 77% of expected revenue, with Spain and Italy the worst affected countries if the eating out ban, implemented by most European Governments since the middle of March, were to continue.
While some European countries are allowing restaurants to resume business, others are delaying this process until later phases in their reopening plans. Despite the timing for reopening being uncertain, one thing is clear: restaurants need to be prepared for a new standard of cleanliness.
So how can restaurant owners and managers establish a culture that reinforces the role of cleanliness? It requires businesses to overhaul cleaning procedures, conduct thorough training and implement brand new employee- centric policies.
Cleaning the right way
Many restaurants will need to rethink their approach to cleaning as the pandemic continues to bring cleanliness to the forefront of everyone’s minds. There are several considerations that owners and managers must take when establishing new cleaning procedures, including:
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Frequency: Enhanced cleaning and disinfection, in both front-of-house (FOH) and back-of-house (BOH) areas, will reduce the spread of potentially harmful germs throughout the restaurant. Determine the right frequency depending on the size and set-up, the foot traffic and other key factors. This may be every 30 minutes, or every two hours. To maintain productivity
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without compromising performance, look for a disinfectant that has a short contact time, such as one that needs just 60 seconds.
• Thoroughness: Provide employees with a one- step disinfectant cleaner that’s safe on people and surfaces, but tough on pathogens. Look for disinfectants approved by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus. For food contact surfaces, you can instruct employees to use a disinfectant cleaner for added assurance, but they must rinse the surface afterwards and then apply a no-rinse sanitiser.
Cleaning beyond high-touch surfaces is crucial, as coronavirus spreads easily and quickly. In addition to using approved chemicals, restaurants must be thorough in how they maintain cleaning tools. For example, while microfibre cloths can remove up to 99.9% of bacteria, they can also spread germs to surfaces if they’re reused too often without laundering.
• Accountability: Confirming compliance with new policies and procedures is just as important as cleaning regularly and diligently. Methods for keeping employees on track include: creating a cleaning schedule for staff members to complete throughout the day that mangers review; having leadership conduct random FOH and BOH cleanliness checks; and setting a reminder every 30 minutes to remind everyone to perform hand hygiene.
Teaching core values and processes
One of the most effective ways that restaurants can make a positive cultural shift is by investing in employee training. Training both seasoned workers and new employees helps
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Environmental-persistence-of-SARS_CoV_2-virus-Options-for-cleaning2020-03-26_0.pdf (
https://www.foodbev.com/news/report-predicts-covid-19s-toll-on-european-foodservice-operators/).
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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