Office Kitchen Cleaning
Your office kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your workplace. It is where you and your co-workers prepare and enjoy their meals. So, it is important for you to keep it clean and free of dirt, grime, and bacteria.
Why Is It Necessary?
Keeping your office kitchen clean helps prevent the spread of germs, reducing staff illness. A dirty kitchen can mean that food waste hasn’t been disposed of. There may be crumbs or loose pieces on the floor attracting insects. A clean kitchen will prevent infestations. Furthermore, your team’s morale will be boosted if they have a clean and mess-free break room. Somewhere they are happy to go to lunch, helping create a positive and productive work environment.
Also check out: How Often Should you Deep Clean a Commercial Kitchen?
But how do you keep it clean? We have come up with 5 top tips to ensure your office kitchen stays a clean and tidy space for you and your team.
Tip 1: Put Up An Office Kitchen Policy
Ensuring you have an Office Kitchen Policy in place that is accessible to everyone is essential. A list of dos and don’ts of the kitchen that employees are required to abide by.
For example, in your policy, you can have things like:
- Clear your leftovers out of the kitchen fridge before they spoil.
- Package your food appropriately.
- If you finish it, replenish (i.e. coffee, napkins etc).
- If it isn’t yours, don’t eat it.
These may seem like obvious rules that everyone should know, but displaying them ensures no one can ignore them.
Tip 2: Post Signs
In your kitchen, you need to clearly display your office rules. Put signs up as reminders. Create a notice board display to put your policy on. Ensure your reminders cover all aspects of maintaining a clean and tidy kitchen. You can:
Put them on the fridge – ‘remember to throw away any waste’.
By the exit- ‘Please leave the kitchen cleaner than you found it’.
By the sink- ‘remember to wash your hands’.
Anything you can think of that will help to reduce the spread of germs and keep the kitchen clean.
Tip 3: Create Cleaning Rota
Implementing a fair cleaning rota that involves everyone at the office will help maintain a positive work environment. This allows your team to focus on their specific job for that week, and not feel responsible for cleaning the entire kitchen. A rota also helps build trust between your employees, as everyone will be responsible for their tasks. They will also know who is at fault if a cleaning task has not been completed, providing motivation.
Assign an area to clean, explain how to do it, and say what cleaning supplies are required. Pin the rota to the notice board and let your team mark when they have completed it.
Tip 4: Invest In A Dishwasher
A fast way to ensure that things get cleaned is to have a dishwasher. Your team will be more inclined to clean up if they know all they need to do is pop the dishes in the dishwasher. They can then get on with their day, without feeling like they have wasted time cleaning. It also ensures that any delicate items won’t get damaged if washed by hand.
It isn’t too expensive to buy and install, just ensure you put up a sign with guidelines on how to use it. What can and cannot go inside, and make sure you have enough dishwasher tablets in stock.
Just make sure you remember to put it on!
Tip 5: Ask Everyone To Clean Up After Themselves
This seems like the obvious one, however, some people will put their things on the side of the sink. If every time they come back, their mess has been cleaned for them, they will keep doing it. Ask everyone to clean up after themselves when their break is finished. This will ensure that people do not let things pile up in the sink.
Everyone should be responsible for their own mess. They should throw away any leftovers they don’t want and wipe up all crockery and cutlery they have used. Encouraging your people to do this will help maintain a productive work environment. Employees won’t feel frustrated at cleaning up after someone else and be happier to clear up their own mess.
Final words
Once you have implemented these tips, it is important you maintain them on a regular basis. It can be difficult to keep your office kitchen clean and sanitised, especially if your workplace is busy. However, working with professional office cleaners can give you peace of mind about the office kitchen’s cleanliness. Your workplace could benefit from hiring a professional team, especially if you have an increased workforce. The more people who use your kitchen, the messier it can get. A professional cleaning service will tackle the mess to industry standards, ensuring a clean and tidy office kitchen.
