How to create a Kitchen Cleaning Schedule

TLDR; How to write a kitchen cleaning schedule

Use these six steps to build a cleaning schedule your team will follow and that keeps your kitchen safe, compliant, and inspection-ready:

Step 1: Walk your kitchen thoroughlySpot what actually gets dirty, where risks build up, and which tasks are being missed — especially inside equipment, around seals, and under units.Step 2: Group tasks by frequency Structure your schedule around realistic cleaning intervals: after every use, each shift, daily, weekly, and monthly - based on risk and soil buildup.Step 3: Include specialist equipment and high-risk tasks Capture essential but often-overlooked jobs like cleaning fridge door seals, dishwashers, slicers, fryers, and mixers. Use correct methods and train staff properly.Step 4: Write every task clearly and completely Use specific, actionable language that tells staff what to clean, how to do it, when it should happen, and what ‘done properly’ looks like.Step 5: Assign tasks and build them into the routine Make cleaning part of the rota, assign tasks by role, and embed checks into shift handovers. Use digital logs or visible checklists to record completion.Step 6: Monitor, review, and take action when things go wrong Log every clean. Review your schedule monthly. Retrain staff, re-clean missed items, and increase supervision if tasks are being skipped. Keep records ready for inspection.

• •Name: Adjust the name of the checklist if needed 
• •Site: Choose the correct site
• •Team: Choose the team who will carry out the checks
• •Start: Choose the next future time that the checks should be carried, for example tomorrow at 7am
• •Finish: Choose the next future time that the checks should be finished by, for example tomorrow at 8pm
• •Frequency: Choose 'Daily' and then select all the days that you want the activity to be created
• •Tags: Add the tags that you created in step 1

Creating a kitchen cleaning schedule

A well-structured kitchen cleaning schedule is a requirement under food hygiene regulations and a critical defence against contamination, pests, cross-contact, and equipment failure.

But even the best-written cleaning checklist won’t work if it’s vague, unrealistic, or disconnected from the way your kitchen actually operates.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a kitchen cleaning schedule that:

• •Targets the highest-risk areas and equipment
• •Assigns clear tasks, frequencies, and responsibilities
• •Uses the correct cleaning methods, chemicals, and products
• •Includes daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning jobs
• •Helps you meet your due diligence requirements in case of inspection

You’ll also see how to handle things when cleaning hasn’t been done properly from re-cleaning to retraining and supervision.

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Walk your kitchen to identify cleaning needs

The goal your kitchen as a health officer would - identify what needs cleaning, what risks you’re controlling, and what’s currently being missed.

A cleaning schedule should reflect how your kitchen is actually used - not how it's supposed to be used. That means before you write anything down, you need to walk your kitchen slowly and thoroughly to observe what really happens, where dirt builds up, and what tasks are regularly skipped, rushed, or misunderstood.

Don’t rely on old templates or assumptions. This walkthrough is your chance to uncover hygiene blind spots and make sure your cleaning schedule is grounded in operational reality.

Start with a full kitchen walkthrough

Block off at least 30–60 minutes. Do it outside of service, when you can open equipment, lift lids, move bins, and remove trays without getting in the way.

Your walkthrough should cover:

• •All kitchen zones – prep, cookline, potwash, storage, waste
• •All food-contact surfaces – boards, worktops, knives, probes
• •All equipment – including specialist or complex items
• •Fixtures and fittings – door handles, taps, switches, splashbacks
• •Floors, walls, and ceilings – particularly corners and behind units
• •Drains and gullies – check for odour, debris, or slow drainage

You’re looking for visible soil, hidden buildup, difficult areas, and infrequent cleaning tasks that pose hygiene risks.

Tip: Bring a clipboard or use your app to take photos and notes as you go. Capture things that look fine on the surface but fail once opened - like fridge seals, slicer blades, dishwasher filters.

Look for what builds up and why:

As you inspect each area or piece of equipment, ask:

• •What type of soil builds up here? (e.g. grease, scale, crumbs, biofilm, starch, protein)
• •Is this likely to harbour bacteria or allergens?
• •Can this attract pests, cause odour, or lead to contamination?
• •Is this part of a hot or cold chain? (Thermal disinfection and temperature control affect how cleaning should be done.)
• •Can it be dismantled safely by trained staff, or is it sealed?
• •Do staff know how to clean it properly — or are they guessing?

Examples of high-risk items to examine closely:

Chilling Equipment (e.g. fridges, walk-ins, displays):

• •Check door seals for mould, crumbs, or tears.
• •Look for pooled liquid at the bottom of units.
• •Open vents and fans to check for dust or residue.
• •Are internal shelves clean and corrosion-free?
• •Are defrost trays or drip trays emptied regularly?

Why it matters: Bacteria thrive in fridge seals, especially when broken or moist. These must be cleaned and disinfected as part of the routine — and every clean logged.

Cooking and Hot Holding Equipment (e.g. ovens, grills, salamanders, hobs):

• •Look behind and underneath units — is grease building up?
• •Open oven doors — are seals, runners, and trays clean?
• •Are control knobs and handles sticky?
• •Look at splashbacks, fryers, hot lamps, and the inside of lids.
• •Has tenacious carbonised soil built up?

Why it matters: Proteins, sugars, and oils create stubborn residues that become burnt-on and hard to remove. These often require alkaline degreasers and elbow grease — not a surface wipe.

Complex/Moving Equipment (e.g. slicers, processors, mixers):

• •Are staff dismantling and cleaning inside the machine — or just wiping the outside?
• •Are manufacturer instructions being followed?
• •Do staff know how to reassemble equipment safely?

Why it matters: Food debris can get trapped behind blades or in gaskets. This creates high-risk zones for Listeria and allergen cross-contact. These must only be cleaned by trained staff following the manual.

Dishwashers and Glasswashers:

• •Remove and inspect filters, rinse arms, and the inside of the machine.
• •Look for pink biofilm or white scale.
• •Check detergent and rinse aid dosing systems.
• •Are staff running a cleaning cycle or just draining the water?

Why it matters: Biofilm forms inside dishwashers if food debris builds up. In hard water areas, calcium carbonate scale traps moisture and creates a breeding ground for bacteria. Manual scrubbing is essential.

Small equipment and tools:

• •Check chopping boards for grooves or stains.
• •Inspect can openers, thermometers, utensils — are they being dismantled and scrubbed?
• •Are knives being cleaned after use or left out?

Why it matters: These are daily-use items that carry high cross-contamination risk, especially for allergens and raw-to-ready contact.

Speak to your team (especially the people who clean)

No cleaning schedule should be written without consulting the people doing the work.

Ask your porters, chefs, and managers:

• •“What jobs are difficult or unclear?”
• •“What gets rushed when we’re busy?”
• •“Is there anything we don’t clean, but probably should?”
• •“What tools or time would make cleaning easier or safer?”
• •“Are you confident using all the cleaning products we have?”

You’ll quickly learn which items are being neglected, cleaned incorrectly, or avoided entirely because they’re awkward or time-consuming.

Why this matters: Many high-risk cleaning jobs are skipped not from laziness, but because staff are unsure how to do them, or don’t have the right tools. A good schedule removes those excuses.

Build a complete cleaning inventory

As you go, build a working list that includes:

• •The item or area (e.g. “Convection oven interior”)
• •What builds up (e.g. “Carbonised oil, food debris”)
• •How it’s cleaned (or currently not cleaned)
• •What product or tool is required (e.g. “Alkaline degreaser, scouring pad”)
• •Who usually cleans it (e.g. “Chef de partie, KP”)
• •How often it should be cleaned
• •Any special notes (e.g. “Switch off first, allow to cool, log on whiteboard”)

Step 2: Group tasks by frequency — not just location

The goal now is to build a schedule based on how often cleaning needs to happen — not just where it happens — so nothing gets missed, overloaded, or forgotten.

After your walkthrough, you should now have a working list of everything that gets dirty in your kitchen including when, how, and by whom it's cleaned (or not). But a long, unordered list isn’t enough. To be usable in a real kitchen, your schedule needs structure.

The best way to do that is to group tasks by frequency — how often something needs to be cleaned based on food safety risk, usage, and soil buildup. This makes it easy for your team to understand what’s expected of them today, this week, or this month — and keeps critical cleaning jobs on rotation.

Use four clear tiers of cleaning frequency

Most commercial kitchens benefit from breaking cleaning tasks into four distinct categories:

1. After every use

These are items that become contaminated as soon as they’re used and must be cleaned immediately to prevent cross-contamination and bacterial growth.

Typical items:

• •Cutting boards
• •Chef knives
• •Mixing bowls
• •Blenders, mixers, Robot Coupes
• •Food contact surfaces (e.g. prep benches)
• •Glassware, crockery, cutlery
• •Reusable utensils and containers

Tip: Many of these are obvious, but that doesn’t mean they’re always done. Your cleaning schedule should clearly include them to reinforce expectations — especially for shared or re-used tools during prep.

1. •Each shift

Tasks that should be completed at the end of every shift — usually by the person using the equipment — to prevent overnight buildup and ensure readiness for the next service.

Examples:

• •Dishwashers and tabling
• •Drains around the potwash area
• •Chopping board racks
• •Can openers
• •Knife sanitising stations
• •Sous vide tanks (emptied and rinsed)
• •Cleaning cloth buckets or spray bottles (emptied and replaced)

Don’t forget to include anything requiring draining, drying, or prepping for the next shift. Tasks like “Empty rinse aid tank” or “Check water softener salt” are often missed without explicit inclusion.

3. Daily

These are deeper cleaning tasks that don’t need doing mid-service, but must be completed before the end of the day to control bacteria, grease, allergen traces, or odours.

Use your existing daily cleaning template as a reference here. It should include:

• •Fridges and walk-ins (including door seals)
• •Microwaves (inside and out)
• •Floors, walls, doors
• •Rationale ovens, convection ovens, fryers
• •Hot tops, bain-maries, soup kettles, water boilers
• •Waste bins (including lids and surrounding floor area)
• •Cleaning sink and sluice
• •Can openers, bronzers
• •Coffee machines (group heads, drip trays)
• •Soap and blue roll dispensers

Note: All chilled equipment must be cleaned and disinfected daily — including seals, shelves, and internal trays. This must be logged as part of your schedule.

4. Weekly

Weekly tasks are typically larger, more intensive jobs that can’t reasonably be done daily but are essential for hygiene and maintenance.

Examples from your weekly template:

• •Extraction canopy and ducting
• •Shelves, racks, drawer units
• •Undersides of equipment and unit legs
• •Plate racks, dollies, trolleys
• •Deep fryer boil-out
• •Potato rumbler or peeling machine
• •Equipment plugs, switches, controls
• •Cleaning equipment (brooms, mop heads)
• •Hot cupboard runners, handles

Tip: Assign weekly cleans to specific weekdays and staff roles. For example, “Fryer boil-out – Thursdays, by CDP.” Don’t wait for a quiet moment - it won’t come.

5. Monthly

Monthly cleaning tasks target low-access areas or equipment with heavy-duty or sealed internals. These tasks reduce pest risk, bacterial growth, and long-term damage.

From your monthly template:

• •Freezers and walk-in freezers (internal + door seals and hinges)
• •Food and ingredient storage bins
• •Dry goods and non-food cupboards
• •Pizza oven internals and burners
• •Under-counter fridge compressor grills
• •Skirting boards and wall-mounted pipework
• •High-level areas (e.g. top of wall cabinets, behind extraction)

Prioritise based on food safety risk

Some items may appear clean but pose high risk when missed. Use this rule of thumb when deciding frequency:

• •High risk = every use or daily: e.g. food-contact equipment, fridge seals, dishwashers
• •Medium risk = daily or weekly: e.g. splashbacks, hot holding, light fittings, runners
• •Low risk = weekly or monthly: e.g. high shelves, storage cupboards, underside of trollies

Include emptying, dismantling, and drying as part of tasks

A task like “Clean dishwasher” is meaningless if it doesn’t include:

• •Draining
• •Removing and scrubbing filters
• •Scraping spray arms
• •Drying internal walls
• •Leaving the door open overnight

Be specific in your wording: “Drain, clean filters, scrub wash arms, wipe internal surfaces, leave door open to dry overnight”

Now that you’ve grouped tasks by frequency, you’re ready to tackle the specific items that need specialist handling or stricter controls — like chillers, slicers, dishwashers, and hot holding.

Step 3: Include critical equipment with specialist cleaning needs

The goal here is to make sure your schedule includes high-risk equipment that needs specific cleaning methods, staff training, or technical knowledge - and isn’t just “wiped down.”

It’s easy to build a cleaning schedule that covers obvious daily jobs: sweep the floor, wipe down the pass, clean the sinks. But many of the most serious hygiene risks come from equipment that looks clean on the outside but hides contamination inside.

That includes dishwashers, chillers, slicers, mixers, ovens all of which require more than surface cleaning. They need manual dismantling, correct chemical products, and trained staff to clean safely and effectively.

If these tasks are missing from your schedule, they’ll likely be missed in real life too - and that’s when bacteria, allergens, and pests build up quietly.

Chilling equipment (fridges, walk-ins, prep counters)

Chillers are often cleaned externally, but door seals, shelves, and interior corners are hotspots for dirt, mould, and bacterial growth.

Add the following to your daily cleaning schedule:

• •Wipe down internal walls and shelves with food-safe sanitiser
• •Disinfect door seals, focusing on folds and grooves
• •Remove pooled liquid from the bottom or under salad drawers
• •Empty and clean drip trays
• •Check for cracks or tears in seals and report damage
• •Switch off and empty the unit for a full clean if needed

Why it matters: Fridge door seals trap moisture and food debris, becoming breeding grounds for bacteria. Disinfection here must be part of your routine — and every cleaning must be recorded.

Cooking and hot holding equipment

Appliances like ovens, hobs, grills, fryers, microwaves, and bain-maries accumulate tenacious soiling — especially from oils, proteins, sugars, and starches.

Surface cleaning isn’t enough. These areas need deep cleaning using the correct chemicals and techniques.

Include the following:

• •Clean and degrease hobs, burners, grills, and hot tops daily using heavy-duty alkaline degreasers
• •Wipe internal surfaces of microwaves and ovens (including trays, seals, runners)
• •Scrub fryers and hot holding units (e.g. bain-marie wells) — including under and behind
• •Schedule a weekly boil-out for deep fryers using approved degreasing agents
• •Use non-abrasive scourers and avoid blocking or damaging vents and sensors

Why it matters: Grease buildup is both a fire risk and a hygiene hazard. It can also compromise equipment performance and food quality if not removed properly.

Specialist or moving equipment (slicers, mixers, processors, coffee machines)

These machines have internal surfaces and moving parts that are not cleaned by wiping the outside. If food residue gets stuck in hidden crevices, it can support serious pathogens like Listeria — especially in cold or damp areas.

What to include in your schedule:

• •Dismantle blades, guards, and internal components after each use
• •Scrub all food-contact parts manually, rinse, and disinfect
• •Allow components to air dry fully before reassembling
• •Only trained staff should dismantle and clean
• •Follow the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions step-by-step
• •Include visual checks before use (no dried food, grease, or movement obstruction)

Why it matters: Many contamination outbreaks have been traced back to poorly cleaned slicers and mixers. Your cleaning schedule must include exact tasks, responsible staff, and reference to manuals.

Dishwashers and glasswashers

Dishwashers may appear self-cleaning — but they’re not. They collect grease, limescale, food debris, and biofilm that can actually spread contamination if not addressed manually.

Daily tasks to include:

• •Remove and scrub filters with hot water and degreaser
• •Remove and clean wash and rinse arms
• •Check and clean door seals and interior walls
• •Leave door open to air dry after draining
• •Clean external touchpoints and surrounding floor area
• •Run an empty high-temp cycle with descaler weekly
• •Check detergent and rinse aid levels
• •Ensure wash temp is 55–60°C, and rinse temp reaches 82–88°C

In hard water areas:

• •Add dishwasher salt per supplier guidance
• •Check for calcium carbonate buildup (white chalky residue)
• •Contact supplier if scaling persists — this reduces cleaning effectiveness and encourages biofilm growth

Why it matters: A salmon-pink film on the inside of a dishwasher is biofilm — and it holds bacteria. It’s resistant to detergent and must be manually scrubbed off. This is a critical task in any cleaning schedule.

Add corrective actions to your schedule

When specialist cleaning tasks aren’t done — or aren’t done properly — your system needs to show what happens next. This builds accountability and helps you protect food safety even when things go wrong.

Corrective actions to include in your schedule and training:

• •Re-clean and disinfect any item that was missed or done to a poor standard
• •Retrain the team member (e.g. KP or chef) on the correct process
• •Revisit manufacturer instructions for any complex equipment
• •Increase supervision if mistakes or gaps are happening repeatedly
• •Record the issue and resolution (in Pilla or your cleaning log) to show due diligence

Pro tip: In Pilla, add cleaning instructions and corrective actions inside each check using the pen icon. This helps staff follow exact procedures and gives managers a clear trail if tasks are missed or challenged during audit.

Step 4: Make each task specific, clear, and easy to assign

The goal is to write every cleaning task so clearly that any team member - even on their first day- can complete it correctly without guessing or skipping steps.

The most common reason cleaning tasks don’t get done properly is because the instruction is too vague.

❌ “Clean fridge” ❌ “Tidy work area” ❌ “Check dishwasher”

These phrases are open to interpretation — and when staff are busy, tired, or unfamiliar with your standards, they’ll make assumptions. That leads to inconsistent results, unsafe equipment, and hygiene failures.

A good cleaning schedule should tell people exactly what to do, how to do it, and what ‘done properly’ looks like.

Use the “What–How–When–Who” model for every task

For each cleaning task in your schedule, make sure it answers:

What needs to be cleaned? → e.g. “Microwave interior and exterior”How should it be cleaned? → e.g. “Use degreaser, rinse, then wipe with food-safe sanitiser”When should it be done? → e.g. “At end of every day shift”Who is responsible? → e.g. “Assigned KP” or “Chef on closing” Optional:

• •Where to log completion (e.g. Pilla activity, daily cleaning sheet)
• •Product/tools needed (e.g. “Alkaline degreaser, yellow cloth”)
• •Reference to SOP (if specialist knowledge required)

Clear writing examples (and vague ones to avoid)

• •❌ Vague: “Clean the fridge”

✅ Clear: “Wipe shelves, walls, and door seals of undercounter fridge using food-safe sanitiser. Remove any out-of-date food. Record task on daily log.”

• •❌ Vague: “Sort slicer”

✅ Clear: “Dismantle meat slicer fully. Scrub blades, guards, and food tray in hot water. Rinse, sanitise, air dry, and reassemble per training guide.”

• •❌ Vague: “Check dishwasher is clean”

✅ Clear: “Drain dishwasher. Remove filters and rinse in hot water. Scrub spray arms. Wipe interior walls with sanitiser. Leave door open overnight to air dry.”

• •❌ Vague: “Wipe prep area”

✅ Clear: “Wipe all prep surfaces with sanitiser spray (red bottle). Leave for full 60-second contact time before use. Change cloths every 4 hours or when dirty.”

Use consistent action verbs to start every task

Starting with a clear verb removes ambiguity. Choose from:

• •Clean – for general removal of dirt and food
• •Disinfect – for food contact surfaces (use only where appropriate)
• •Scrub – when physical force is needed (e.g. fryer filters)
• •Drain / Dismantle / Reassemble – for technical equipment
• •Wipe / Polish / Empty / Reline / Record – for specific follow-through

Avoid passive or vague starters like:

• •“Make sure…”
• •“Double check…”
• •“Tidy up…”
• •“Look over…”

These don’t assign clear responsibility or action.

Include expected results

Where appropriate, describe how the area should look or function when the task is complete. This makes it easier to check work and train new team members.

Examples:

• •“Leave fridge shelves dry, with no standing liquid or visible debris”
• •“Ensure slicer is fully dry before reassembling”
• •“No pink or white residue should remain in dishwasher”
• •“Coffee machine drip tray emptied, scrubbed, and reassembled”

Use visual prompts or add instructions inside your system

If your team is using Pilla, take advantage of the rich text notes feature inside each checklist item:

• •Add instructions or links to SOPs
• •Include photos showing a clean vs. dirty example
• •Add a “Why this matters” sentence for training

Example:

Checklist item: “Clean door seals on all fridges” Note: “Food and moisture build up here and cause mould. Use sanitiser spray and blue roll. Make sure seals are dry before closing fridge.” This reduces the need for constant retraining — and reinforces the importance of the task.

Step 5: Assign responsibilities and build cleaning into the daily routine

Make cleaning part of how your kitchen operates - not something rushed at the end of a shift or left to guesswork.

Even the most carefully written cleaning schedule will fail if it’s treated as optional, disconnected from the rota, or left for “whoever’s around.” To make cleaning tasks actually happen, you need to assign responsibility, schedule time for completion, and embed the tasks into how your team works every day.

This step is about operationalising your cleaning schedule - turning it from a document into a reliable habit.

Assign every task to a specific person or job role

Never assign tasks to “staff” or “kitchen team.” If a job belongs to everyone, it belongs to no one.

For each cleaning task in your schedule:

• •Specify a clear owner (e.g. AM KP, closing chef, CDP, shift manager)
• •Rotate where needed, but always clarify who’s on for that task today
• •Use initials, colour-coding, or role-based assignments in Pilla or on printed checklists
• •Make sure senior staff know they’re accountable for verifying completion — not just doing the job

Why it matters: Assigning tasks by role, not just name, makes the schedule future-proof. It ensures coverage even when people change shifts or call in sick.

Schedule cleaning into the rota - don’t rely on spare time

Too many cleaning schedules assume that cleaning “just gets done” - but if you don’t build it into the rota, it won’t be done properly (or at all).

Here’s how to build cleaning into the daily schedule:

• •Start-of-day: Assign opening team tasks such as fridge seal checks, equipment wipe-downs, bin prep
• •Mid-shift: Allocate “clean-as-you-go” or spot cleaning for longer shifts (e.g. pass wipe-down every 2 hours)
• •End-of-shift: Assign deep cleans (e.g. fryer boil-out, tabling) with protected time on the rota
• •Weekly/monthly: Schedule recurring deep cleans on quieter days with longer gaps between services

In Pilla, each Work Activity has a start time and finish time — use these realistically. Cleaning is part of the shift, not unpaid overtime.

Example: If dishwasher cleaning takes 20 minutes and your closing team finishes at 10pm, don’t schedule them off the rota at 10:00 — schedule till 10:20.

Make cleaning part of the service flow

Cleaning shouldn’t feel like a disruption or an afterthought. Build small cleaning tasks into the natural flow of each role.

Examples:

• •Chef de partie: Wipe and sanitise prep bench every 2 hours using sanitiser and blue roll
• •Kitchen porter: Empty and clean waste bins mid-shift before they overflow
• •Commis: Clean can opener after each use and log on daily sheet
• •Barista: Wipe grinder and clean group heads at end of each shift

Tip: When writing SOPs, show how cleaning fits within daily responsibilities - not in a separate section. Cleaning isn’t something extra. It’s part of the job.

Use shift handovers to close the loop

Cleaning only works when it’s verified and handed over correctly. Your schedule should make it easy for the next team to know what’s been done and what hasn’t.

At the end of every shift:

• •Senior staff check and sign off cleaning tasks
• •Any missed or failed items are re-assigned before staff leave
• •Issues (e.g. broken nozzle, missing degreaser) are logged immediately in your app or cleaning log

At the start of each shift:

• •Team checks condition of key areas (fridges, surfaces, slicers)
• •If an area is not clean, it’s flagged and corrected before prep begins

Why it matters: Missed cleaning can’t be undone once food is prepped. Building cleaning into handovers protects you from passing problems between shifts.

Make it easy to record and follow up

Recording cleaning completion is more than ticking a box — it’s a legal requirement under due diligence. It also gives managers a chance to spot patterns, retrain staff, or fix broken processes.

Options for recording cleaning:

• •Pilla: Staff complete assigned Work Activities with digital logs and comment options
• •Paper checklists: Initial and timestamp tasks by hand; keep folders for inspection
• •Hybrid: Daily in Pilla, weekly/monthly printed and signed by manager

Ensure your records:

• •Are legible and complete
• •Include corrections or follow-ups when tasks are missed
• •Are reviewed regularly — not just filed away

Follow-up tip: If a task is skipped or rushed repeatedly, don’t just remind — investigate. Is there enough time? Are tools or products missing? Is training up to date?

Step 6: Monitor, log, improve your cleaning schedule  and act when things go wrong

Keep your cleaning schedule accurate, used, and respected and take clear corrective action when tasks aren’t completed or standards aren’t met.

A cleaning schedule is only as good as its follow-through. If no one checks it, updates it, or enforces it, it quickly becomes a document that says cleaning happens, even when it doesn’t.

To avoid this, you need to monitor task completion, log your records, and regularly review the schedule to ensure it still fits your kitchen’s needs. And when things go wrong — which they will — you need a system for correcting, retraining, and reinforcing.

Log all cleaning activities and review them regularly

Whether you use Pilla or paper, every completed task should be recorded:

• •Who did it
• •When it was done
• •Any issues found or corrected during the process

This doesn’t mean tick-boxes for the sake of it. Logs are part of your due diligence under food hygiene law. They show EHOs that cleaning tasks are happening consistently, not just when someone remembers.

Review your records weekly:

• •Are any tasks consistently missed or delayed?
• •Are the same issues (e.g. dirty slicer, blocked dishwasher filter) being flagged repeatedly?
• •Are sign-offs happening without the work being properly done?

If so, it’s time to act.

Follow clear corrective actions when cleaning hasn’t been done properly

Mistakes happen. But what matters is what you do next.

Corrective actions to include in your policy and training:

1. Re-clean and disinfect

If an item has not been cleaned properly — or not cleaned at all — it must be re-cleaned immediately. This applies to:

• •Food contact surfaces and tools
• •Chillers and hot holding equipment
• •Specialist equipment like slicers and blenders
• •Dishwashers and glasswashers

Re-cleaning must follow the correct method using appropriate chemicals, tools, and drying procedures — not just a quick wipe.

2. Retrain kitchen staff

If staff are skipping or rushing tasks, retrain them on:

• •The correct cleaning method
• •The risks of incomplete cleaning (e.g. bacteria, allergen cross-contact, pest attraction)
• •Where to find instructions or SOPs (e.g. inside your checklist, Pilla notes)

Focus especially on:

• •New starters
• •Staff unfamiliar with specialist equipment
• •Roles where standards have slipped over time

Make retraining hands-on where possible. Walk through the task. Show the standard. Don’t rely on telling — show and verify.

3. Retrain kitchen porter(s) on dishwasher cleaning

Dishwasher issues are often overlooked or poorly understood. If biofilm, limescale, or odours are present — or if plates/glasses come out dirty — retrain the porter on:

• •Draining and cleaning the machine
• •Removing and scrubbing filters and spray arms
• •Using descaler where needed
• •Recognising correct wash and rinse temperatures
• •Keeping the door open overnight to dry

Include training on signs of biofilm: a pink or reddish film inside the dishwasher is a warning sign of bacteria — and cannot be ignored.

4. Increase supervision

If missed tasks keep happening even after retraining:

• •Increase spot checks by managers or supervisors
• •Use digital logs (like in Pilla) to view missed or overdue checks
• •Walk key zones at the end of every shift and confirm cleaning before staff clock off
• •Document follow-up actions (e.g. re-cleaned, feedback given, retrained)

Repeat misses aren’t just performance issues — they’re food safety risks. Strong supervision helps protect the business and support the team.

Review your cleaning schedule monthly (or after any big change)

Your kitchen evolves constantly — new equipment, new layout, different service flow. Your cleaning schedule must evolve with it.

Set a monthly review to ask:

• •Are all listed tasks still necessary?
• •Are any new pieces of equipment missing from the schedule?
• •Are the frequencies realistic and still appropriate based on use?
• •Is any task being skipped or rushed because it takes too long?
• •Has new guidance or legislation been released that affects cleaning?

If something’s changed in your kitchen — your schedule should change too.

Involve the team in reviews

Your porters and chefs are the ones doing the cleaning. They know what’s awkward, what’s unrealistic, and what’s working well.

Ask them:

• •“What’s being missed or rushed?”
• •“Are the tools and products we give you fit for the job?”
• •“What would make this easier to do properly?”
• •“Does anything feel like box-ticking that doesn’t work in practice?”

You’re not asking for excuses — you’re asking for insight. Use their answers to improve the schedule and make it more practical.

Update instructions and tools when needed

If staff keep making the same mistake (e.g. not cleaning fridge seals, missing dishwasher filters), don’t just keep correcting them. Ask:

• •Does the cleaning schedule describe the task clearly?
• •Are instructions easy to find in the checklist or training manual?
• •Are the right tools and chemicals available in the right place?
• •Is there enough time in the rota to do the job properly?

Then update accordingly:

• •Reword the checklist item for clarity
• •Add a photo or short explanation to the checklist
• •Stock better tools (e.g. detail brushes, non-abrasive pads, labelled bottles)
• •Give staff 15 minutes of protected time to complete the task thoroughly

Keep your records inspection-ready

Lastly, make sure your logs, schedules, and updates are stored in a way that can be presented during an inspection.

In Pilla:

• •Keep completed cleaning activities with time, date, and staff records
• •Mark issues, flag re-cleans, and log comments as needed
• •Schedule one-off corrective actions and assign to managers for follow-up

On paper:

• •Store logs in a clean, dedicated folder
• •Sign and date each page
• •Attach updated checklists when changes are made
• •Note corrective actions and retraining on the back or in a separate log