Assessing Surface Cleanliness: The Risks & Rewards

Submitted by Jim Mann on May 30, 2009 - 9:31pm.

Good surface hygiene is critical for many away-from-home surfaces. "Whether germs are viral, bacterial, or fungal, some can remain active on most surfaces for several days -- no matter whether the surface is stainless steel, wood, plastic, or even the paper in a magazine," says Elaine Jong, MD, co-director of the University of Washington Travel Clinic in Seattle.

A WebMD newsletter puts it this way: "80% of infections are spread the same way: Someone touches a germ-ridden surface. Or someone infected by germ particles from a sneeze, a cough, or a touch -- gets the infectious bug onto their hands."

Truly clean surfaces, TouchReady Surfaces, pay dividens by protecting your business, caring for your customers' wellness and in reducing staff absenteeism.

Kitchen, service area and restroom surfaces are particularly important and varied in number, shape, size and associated risk. Their cleanliness is paramont in caring for the staff and the diners they serve. Each surface has its own reason for being clean. But some surfaces are clearly more risky in contaminating hands and entering the food flow. These surfaces deserve identification, standards of cleanliness, written cleaning protocols and closer monitoring than most.

As in the Risk Assessment for ServeReady™ Hands, we suggest forming a temporary cross-functional team to see if the surfaces are contributing to a level of unnecessary risk - that risk which can be eliminated in the short term without a major capital investment. This team should minimally include Risk Management or Finance, Operations and Food Safety/Quality Assurance. Training, Human Resources and Purchasing also can be very helpful if a plan moves forward to implementation.

Most operators are less than happy with their hand hygiene compliance and concerned that staff hands, especially at busy times, are less than ServeReady™, presenting an unnecessary level of risk.