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      Hygiene and Cleanliness Audit

      Hygiene and Cleanliness hand in a glove cleaning a surface with a rag

      What is a Hygiene/Cleanliness Audit?

      A hygiene/cleanliness audit is a review of your management systems and processes for cleaning your workplace, and in particular, areas of higher risk such as kitchens, bathrooms etc. It measures against legal requirements, your standards, and industry standards from the Food Standards Agency, Environmental Health Department, Care Quality Commission (CQC) and other stakeholders.  

      We use bioluminescent testing to verify the effectiveness of your cleaning regime. This gives a visual and immediate measurement which can be shared with your teams. This is valuable in achieving engagement and understanding and helping them to understand if and where standards need to be improved.

      What does our Hygiene and Cleanliness Audit invole?

      We will scope the locations you want to be included

      • Kitchens to measure against food hygiene standards  
      • Clinical areas to monitor against your infection control protocols
      • Residential areas where people you support congregate and spend time
      • Communal areas where people interacting with your organisation may pass through or meet

      We will request and review your current policies, such as: 

      • HACCP (hazard control at critical control points) for kitchens and food safety
      • Infection Control
      • Contractor standards and cleaning agreements

      We will agree on locations to visit, and key people to liaise with. We can conduct planned or unplanned visits, according to what is most suitable for you.  

      We will take samples using Bioluminescence analysis. This gives you an immediate reading of your cleaning standard and will tell you whether your surfaces and touch points are within acceptable parameters to minimize the risk of infection.  

      We can use Bioluminescent analysis as part of a training exercise for your staff as it gives a visible and immediate demonstration to validate standards and can reinforce that your standards are good or help to identify where standards are below where they should be.  

      We will write a summary report with our findings. By doing this, we can let you know if you are complying not only with the law but also with your own policy and procedure standards. 

      What is Bioscanning?

      Hygiene and Cleanlines BioscanningBioscanning is a hygiene monitoring system that can detect harmful bacteria and food residues on any surface and equipment in your kitchen. Whilst something may look clean, this isn’t always the case. Bioscanning swabs are used on clean work preparation surfaces, catering equipment (including cups, plates, and utensils) and high-touch areas (door handles, fridge and freezer handles etc.). 

      It works on the detection of a substance known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate).  ATP is present in all living cells including bacteria. Where a high level of ATP is found, it indicates that the item or area is not clean. Bioscanning will show you just how clean things are and highlight areas where additional and more frequent cleaning and disinfection may be required.  

      Why do we need a Hygiene Audit?

      Hygiene and Cleanlines risk assessment An audit helps to monitor and measure the standard of cleanliness of your workplace. Your staff and visitors are more at risk of infections if your workplace is not sufficiently clean and the risk of germ spread is much higher.  This has an indirect cost to your business, and can detrimentally affect worker welfare. If you have vulnerable workers, they will be more at risk, particularly during winter when cold, flu, RSV virus, COVID and other infections are virulent.  

      An audit will confirm whether your cleaning schedules are sufficient or are being correctly followed. 

      If you have an infection control policy (e.g. if you work in a healthcare setting) this is an important and valuable method to verify that your infection control policy is effective.  

      A Hygiene Audit is peace of mind for you and your Organisation that you are complying with crucial hygiene regulations as well as giving you peace of mind you are keeping your staff, the public and clients safe.  

      Conducting regular audits also helps to support your kitchen workers in areas where sometimes training has been missed, or staff have forgotten. During the audit, we will identify non-compliances within areas you are required to manage as managers and owners under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and other Regulations and The Food Safety Act 1990. You can be confident you are meeting your hygiene and   safety standards. We also look at allergens and how you manage these to ensure you are meeting The UK Food Information Amendment (England) Regulations 2019 (Natashas Law). 

      A Hygiene Audit will help you monitor your standards, identify areas of improvement, confirm legal compliance, reduce the risk of infection and help you meet that important five-star hygiene rating many businesses want as part of their Food Hygiene Inspections from the Food Standards Agency. Sometimes, we think we are doing enough, but a fresh pair of eyes may detect areas of complacency or areas you may have missed. By arranging an audit, it will support your employees and protect your clients, customers, the public and your business.  

      Hygiene and Cleanlines testing on petri dish We will visit your premises and conduct an inspection of your catering facilities. We look at your policies, HACCP records, temperature checks, cleaning schedules, allergen management, storage facilities, training records and other documentation. By doing this, we can provide you with a comprehensive report that confirms areas of compliance and non-compliance and provides details of any recommendations you need. We can even do regular spot-check visits if you want us to do this. With Bioscanning included in your hygiene audit, we will conduct a variety of swab tests and can provide you with your Bioscanning results on the same day.  

      • A site visit with one of our competent advisors.  
      • An inspection of your catering facilities.  
      • A review and commentary about whether you are complying with the food and safety laws in your kitchen and make recommendations for any improvements required.  
      • Bioscanning with results on the same day.  
      • A comprehensive and easy-to-read report.  
      Case Study

      A client asked us to visit a collection of care homes and day centre facilities to identify non-conformities that might be in place. Whilst all sites had a five Food Safety rating, they had not conducted independent Hygiene Audits.  

      Hygiene and Cleanlines of a kitchen

      Important areas of non-compliance were noted such as staff not following a standard system for day dotting food when prepared or opened – staff were following different ways of working – some dating the item on the day it was opened or prepared and some staff dating opened or prepared food with the three-day use by date. This could have meant that food fit for the bin could have been served – in a business where there is a high percentage of vulnerable people, this could have been.  

      One site was hand washing equipment due to the dishwasher being broken. When Bioscanning was conducted on some of the washed equipment, some of these items had high readings (one item had a score of 260 when this should be <27). The equipment looked clean but on further questioning, it was reported that staff were washing equipment with detergent but missing the vital important sanitising/disinfection stage. When further Bioscanning swabbing was conducted on the door handle to the kitchen, the result was 1282 when the reading should be <300 for hand touch areas. 

      The door handle looked clean but being a high traffic area with many people touching this, it could have only been a matter of time before these bacteria was transferred to food prepared for clients. We then demonstrated the correct way of sanitising high touch point areas and re-swabbing, resulting in an acceptable score, this showed staff the importance of regular and through cleaning. The client has chosen to conduct quarterly ad-hoc unannounced visits to monitor the recommendations made and to ensure they are consistent.  

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