Health and Safety Compliance Checklist

Pull the staff roster and confirm every FOH and BOH employee has a current ServSafe or state-equivalent food handler card on file. Flag any expiring within 60 days. Confirm at least one ServSafe-certified manager is scheduled on every shift.

Book the expiring employees into the next ServSafe Food Handler or Manager course. Pull them off solo allergen-plating shifts until the cert is renewed. Document the enrollment date in the personnel file.

States including MA, IL, MI, NY, and RI require an allergen-trained manager on duty whenever food is served. Confirm PCFP or AllerTrain certification covers every scheduled shift this month. Inspectors check certs at point of service.

Cooked TCS food must drop from 140°F to 70°F within 2 hours and to 41°F within 6 hours. Hot-holding stays at 135°F or above. Pull the last 30 days of logs — gaps, missed entries, or out-of-range readings without a corrective-action note are the line items inspectors cite first.

Probe each cooler at the warmest spot — typically the top shelf nearest the door. Cold-holding must be 41°F or below; freezers at 0°F or below. Calibrate the thermometer in ice water (32°F) before the round.

Use a fresh test strip on the sanitizer bay. Chlorine target is 50–100 ppm; quat is 200–400 ppm depending on the product. Strips older than the printed date read low — replace the tube quarterly.

Check fryer oil clarity and filter date, flat-top calibration against a surface thermometer, and hot-well water level. A hot well running dry shows up as a 120°F holding temp on the next log — catch it now.

NFPA 96 requires the hood suppression system be inspected by a licensed contractor every 6 months. The tag on the cylinder shows the last service date — if it is older than 6 months, the local fire marshal will cite on sight.

Class K (wet chemical) sits near the cookline for grease fires; ABC dry chemical covers the rest of the building. Confirm gauge in green, pin and tamper seal intact, and the annual inspection tag punched within 12 months.

Push every exit door from the inside — they must open without keys, tools, or special knowledge. Confirm illuminated EXIT signs work on backup power, and no kegs, dunnage, or high chairs are blocking the path. Fire marshals flag blocked egress as a critical violation.

Pull the closing side-work logs for the last 30 days. Confirm initials on hood filters (weekly), floor drains (weekly), ice machine sanitize (monthly), and soda gun nozzles (nightly). Missing initials = the task wasn't done; coach the closing manager, don't just sign it off.

Soap, paper towels, toilet tissue, and a hot-water-capable handwash sink are health-code minimums. Confirm the handwash sink reaches 100°F within 30 seconds. A guest-visible dirty restroom is the single most common driver of a 1-star review.

Allergy tickets require a dedicated cutting board, fresh gloves, clean tongs, and — for fried items — a dedicated fryer or sheet-pan-and-oven preparation. Watch one allergy ticket through expo end-to-end and document any cross-contact risk.

Pull the bound service book from Ecolab, Orkin, or your provider. Confirm monthly visits, signed technician reports, and that any active issues (rodent activity, fruit fly hotspot) have a corrective-action close-out. Health inspectors page through this book early in their visit.

Dumpster lids should close fully; pad swept clean; back door sweep flush to the threshold. Gaps wider than a pencil at the back door are a rodent superhighway. Photograph any gaps and open a work order with the landlord same day.

Degreaser, sanitizer, and bleach live in the chemical closet — never above or beside food, prep surfaces, or single-use items. Every product needs an original label. The SDS binder (replacing the legacy MSDS term under OSHA HazCom 2012) must be physically accessible to staff, not locked in the office.