Kitchen Hygiene Inspection Checklist

Who this is for

A hygiene walk round a working kitchen, recorded line by line. The prefilled points cover storage, preparation surfaces, equipment, cleaning, personal hygiene, waste and pest signs, and each failure gets a finding, an action and a tick when it is put right.

Head chefs, kitchen managers, café and pub owners, catering supervisors and anyone who runs an in-house kitchen for a school, care home, club or village hall.

What this helps you track

• What was inspected on the day, and by whom
• Which points failed and exactly what was wrong with them
• What was corrected there and then, and what had to be booked in
• A dated series of rounds you can show to anyone who asks how the kitchen is run

How to use it

1. Head the sheet with the kitchen, the inspector and the date.
2. Walk the prefilled points in order, marking pass, fail or not applicable.
3. Write the finding for anything that fails — which fridge, which surface, which corner.
4. Tick the fixed column only for things put right during the inspection itself.
5. Give everything else an action and take it away with you; the summary counts what failed.
6. Sign the sheet and keep it with your temperature and cleaning records.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Does this sheet include temperatures?

No, and that is deliberate. Temperatures belong on a log of their own with a column for the figure your own procedures set. This sheet is for the things you judge by looking: condition, cleanliness, storage and separation.

Is it for a commercial kitchen or a home one?

Either. The points are written for a working kitchen with several people in it, but a home cook running a food stall or a village hall kitchen can use the same round and cross out what does not apply.

Does using it mean we meet the food hygiene rules?

No. What you must do, record and show is set by the food authority where you are. This is a record of your own inspection, not evidence of compliance with any particular scheme.

Can two people sign the same round?

Yes. Put the inspector in the header and use the signature line for whoever accepts the actions — often the chef or the manager on duty.