Opening and closing checks are the basic standards everything else rests on. If the fridges were not working when you opened, no amount of careful cooking later in the day fixes it.
They are also the first thing a new starter is trained on, before they touch food, which is why they sit in the "on first day" section of the training record.
What the opening checks cover
- Fridges, chilled display equipment and freezers are working properly.
- Other equipment, the oven and so on, is working properly.
- Staff are fit for work and in clean work clothes.
- Food preparation areas are clean and disinfected: surfaces, equipment, utensils.
- All areas are free from evidence of pest activity.
- There are plenty of handwashing and cleaning materials: soap, paper towels, sanitiser.
- Hot running water is available at every sink and hand wash basin.
- The probe thermometer works and probe wipes are available.
- Allergen information is accurate for everything on sale.
- Cleaning has been carried out according to the cleaning schedule.
And the closing checks
Closing is the mirror image, and its job is to hand tomorrow a kitchen that is safe to open: food put away and covered, surfaces and equipment cleaned down, waste out, cleaning done to the schedule, and nothing left out that should not be.
The closing check is the one that gets skipped, because it happens when everyone wants to go home. That is precisely why it is written down rather than assumed.
Adding your own checks
The official list is a minimum, not a ceiling. The pack leaves blank rows for your own opening and closing checks, and most kitchens need a few: the gas interlock, the ice machine, a door that does not always latch, a piece of equipment with a history.
Extra checks are usually added after something goes wrong, which is also what the four-weekly review is asking when it wants to know whether extra opening or closing checks are needed. In the app your own checks appear in the day alongside the official ones rather than replacing them.
Recording them without stopping work
The checks themselves take a minute. Writing them down is what falls behind, and it falls behind in a specific way: the checks get done, and the diary gets filled in on Friday for the whole week from memory.
On a phone the day is one screen. Tick what you did, add your temperatures, and the entry is signed with your name. The calendar then shows which days are complete and which have gaps, so a quiet Tuesday three weeks ago is noticed then rather than on inspection day. Optional reminders cover the days the kitchen is busiest.
Common questions
What are opening and closing checks?
A short list of basic checks the SFBB pack asks you to carry out at the start and end of every day the business is open, covering equipment, cleanliness, staff, pests and allergen information.
Do I have to record them every day?
Yes, on every day you are open. It is the daily line in the diary.
Can I add my own checks?
Yes. The pack leaves space for your own, and most kitchens add a few specific to their equipment or layout.
Who can do the checks?
Anyone trained to. The record carries the name of whoever made the entry, which is what an inspector is looking for as much as the tick itself.
What if a check fails?
Record it and record what you did. A fridge found warm at opening, moved stock and an engineer called is a good record. A blank is not.
Keep reading
Open, tick, done
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