Generate a printable kitchen cleaning and sanitising schedule with tasks, frequencies and sign-off for your Australian food business. Free PDF, FSANZ-aligned.
A kitchen cleaning schedule is a written plan that lists every cleaning and sanitising task, how often each one must be done, and who signs it off. It ensures surfaces and equipment are cleaned consistently and gives you a record to show inspectors.
Cleaning removes visible dirt, grease and food residue, usually with detergent and water. Sanitising then reduces bacteria on the surface to a safe level using heat or a chemical sanitiser. Food contact surfaces need both, in that order, because sanitiser does not work well over dirt.
Food contact surfaces such as benches, boards and utensils should be cleaned and sanitised whenever they could contaminate food, for example between raw and ready-to-eat foods, after a spill, and at least at the end of each service. Your schedule should make these points explicit.
Under the Food Standards Code you must keep your premises and equipment clean. A written, signed schedule demonstrates that cleaning is planned and actually carried out, rather than left to memory, which is exactly what an environmental health officer looks for.
Include daily tasks like sanitising benches and mopping floors, weekly tasks like cleaning behind equipment and range hoods, and periodic tasks like defrosting freezers and deep-cleaning extraction. Group them by frequency so nothing is overlooked.
Yes. This tool gives you a free printable PDF, and FoodSafety HQ can run your cleaning schedule digitally so staff tick off tasks on a phone or tablet and the completed records are time-stamped and stored for inspections.