Generate a food safety self-audit checklist based on what council inspectors check under the FSANZ Food Standards Code — temperature, cleaning, hygiene, premises and records. Free PDF.
Environmental health officers typically check temperature control of potentially hazardous food, cleaning and sanitising, personal hygiene and hand-washing, pest control, food storage and separation, structure and maintenance, and your records. A self-audit checklist mirrors these areas.
A self-audit is an internal inspection where you check your own venue against the same standards an EHO applies. It helps you find non-compliances, like food in the danger zone or dirty equipment, and fix them before an official visit.
Many businesses self-audit monthly or quarterly, and always before an expected council inspection. Regular checks keep small issues from becoming systemic problems and keep staff habits sharp.
Frequent issues include food held in the temperature danger zone of 5C to 60C, inadequate cleaning and sanitising, poor hand-washing facilities, cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat food, missing records, and pest evidence. A structured checklist targets each of these.
Record each issue, assign a corrective action with a responsible person and a due date, fix it, then verify the fix. Keeping this record shows council you actively manage food safety, not just react to inspections.
Yes. This tool gives you a free printable checklist, and FoodSafety HQ can run audits digitally so you score each area on a phone or tablet, attach photos, and track corrective actions to completion with a stored history.