Owning a bar or restaurant during COVID-19 can be stressful, to say the least. Needing to keep a clean bar or restaurant is nothing new. There have always been health and safety standards within the industry, but things have gotten even more strict this year while we all take precautions to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

As a bar or restaurant owner, you’re now looking at extra rules to follow and enforce within your business. You’ll likely need to be more on top of your cleaning plan and cleaning more frequently, especially if your business is heavily trafficked.

If you don’t already have a solid cleaning plan, it’s time to create one. It can be easy to miss certain cleaning procedures if you don’t have a proper plan in place for all of your staff to follow. It’s best to create an easy-to-follow detailed checklist that employees can work through and follow. Make the checklist detailed enough, while still keeping it as simple as possible. When making a plan and a list to follow for cleaning procedures, including a list of areas to clean, tools to use, products to use, and length of time needed for cleaning.

In addition to general cleaning protocols, you’ll want a system for wiping down tables or bar tops after customers have come in. You’ll need to have a system to keep track of where people are sitting. If your restaurant or bar operates with a hostess system where you seat people, this will be easier. If your establishment allows people to seat themselves, then create some kind of tracking system so you can clean tables or bar tops between customers.

This is especially important during COVID-19 because you’ll want to clean between each customer. Other areas to pay particular attention to are door handles, faucets, bathrooms, and any items that are on countertops. It can be helpful to create a cleaning protocol to wipe down most trafficked areas at least once every hour.

As a restaurant or bar owner, you always want to keep your customers safe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be confusing to figure out what extra precautions to take. Focus on following your local government guidelines. If you want to take the pressure off of you and your employees, you can always outsource your cleaning to a local green cleaning company.