Cleaning is one of those areas every food business knows it needs to do, but very few document properly. A defensible HACCP cleaning schedule has three parts: the rota, the method, and the record. Get the trio right and the kitchen passes inspection on cleaning every time.
Why cleaning is a HACCP issue, not a domestic one
Bacteria and allergens both live on contact surfaces. A poorly cleaned chopping board can transfer Listeria from raw chicken to a cooked salad in seconds. A residual nut-paste smear on a blender can put a customer in A&E. HACCP demands that cleaning be planned, controlled and recorded - not left to chance.
The three-tier schedule
Daily
- Wipe down food contact surfaces between tasks (3-5 mins).
- Sanitise probe thermometers and chopping boards every shift.
- Empty bins every 2 hours during service.
- Sweep and mop floors at close.
- Sanitise wash-hand basins.
- Hot-wash kitchen cloths or switch to disposable.
Weekly
- Deep-clean fridge interiors including seals.
- Pull-out clean of cookers, salamanders and grills.
- Descale dishwashers and ice machines.
- Scrub tile grouting and skirting.
- Wash internal walls behind prep stations.
Deep clean (every 1-3 months)
- Full ventilation and extract hood degrease - usually contracted.
- Floor drains and grease traps.
- Deep-clean of stockroom shelving.
- Inspection and replacement of cleaning equipment.
The two-stage clean
Every food contact surface needs a two-stage clean: 1) clean with detergent to remove dirt, then 2) sanitise with a food-safe disinfectant left for the contact time on the label (typically 30 seconds to 5 minutes). One stage alone is not enough. Mixing detergent and bleach in the same bucket is dangerous and ineffective.
Allergen wash-down
If you handle nuts, sesame, gluten or dairy in the same kitchen as allergen-free meals, run a dedicated allergen wash-down between tasks: dry sweep, hot wash, food-safe sanitiser, fresh cloth. Build it into the rota and tick it on the record sheet.
Chemical safety inside HACCP
- Store chemicals away from food, in a locked or labelled cupboard.
- Keep an SDS file for every product.
- Train every food handler on dilution and contact time.
- Decant detergents only into properly labelled containers.
The record sheet
One A4 sheet per week with rows for each task and columns for each day. Sign-off at the bottom of each shift. Keep 12 months. Inspectors look at this immediately after monitoring records.
Make it stick
The best cleaning schedule in Ireland is the one that gets done. Build it into the team's HACCP Course module - new starters then arrive already familiar with the rota and the two-stage clean, and you stop training the same lesson twice.
