The Food Safety AppThe four cleaning safe methods
The smallest section of the pack, and the one most likely to be waved through on the grounds that everybody knows how to clean. Three of its four methods are about doing it in an order that works, and the fourth is about writing it down.
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One of the five sections of the 31 safe methods. Note where the pack puts handwashing: here, under cleaning, rather than with cross-contamination, where most people would file it.
What each one asks you to write down
| Safe method | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Cleaning effectively | Chemical disinfectants only work if surfaces have been thoroughly cleaned first to remove grease and other dirt. |
| Clear and clean as you go | Outer packaging may have touched dirty floors in storage and transport, and raw-food packaging and waste are the most likely things to spread bacteria. |
| Handwashing | The six steps, in order. Effective handwashing prevents bacteria and viruses reaching food, and it takes longer than people think. |
| Your cleaning schedule | Writing down how you clean, so an officer can see it and staff can check how something should be cleaned. |
Disinfectant does not clean
The single most useful thing in this section is the reason cleaning effectively is a method rather than an instruction: a disinfectant applied to a greasy surface does not work. Clean first to remove the grease and the dirt, then disinfect. A kitchen that sprays and wipes in one pass has done neither properly.
All four print onto their own FSA sheet, as every safe method does. The cleaning schedule is the one with a second form behind it: the method describes how you clean, and the schedule itself is an ongoing record of what gets cleaned, how often and by whom, on its own FSA form. That record has a page of its own; the other three are methods with nothing to keep up afterwards.
What the app does with them
Each sheet in the app is the FSA’s own sheet, transcribed question by question, and it prints back onto the FSA’s published form. Completing one stamps the date and the initials of whoever signed it, and those stamps are what fill in the completion record at the front of the pack.
Sheets are versioned, which matters more than it sounds. When the FSA revises a method, a sheet you completed against the older wording is flagged as stale and asks to be read and re-confirmed rather than quietly continuing to count. A method you have marked as not relevant to your business is left alone, because a rewrite of a method you do not use changes nothing for you.
Questions
Why is handwashing a cleaning method?
It is where the pack puts it. Personal hygiene stays under cross-contamination, and the mechanics of washing your hands sit here with the other things you clean. The distinction is finer than most kitchens would draw.
Is the cleaning schedule the same as the cleaning safe method?
No. "Cleaning effectively" is the method, how you clean. The schedule is the record of what gets cleaned, how often and by whom, and it prints onto the FSA’s own form.
Do I need a separate schedule for every area?
The pack asks for one that covers what you have. The app’s schedule takes as many items as you need and prints them on the form.
Keep reading
Clean in the right order, and write it down
Free on iOS and Android, schedule included.