As restaurants across the country adapt to a new business environment shaped by COVID-19, traditional roles performed by staff are shifting, reflecting an increased focus on cleaning, sanitizing , food safety and public health. In some cases, food service operations are even creating new staff positions like “Sanitation” or “Cleaning Captain” and “Food Safety Officer”. Employees in these new roles are charged with overseeing compliance with stringent COVID-19 mitigation and sanitizing protocols and ensuring that guests feel confident about their experience when returning to dining room settings.1
As dine-in service options resume and expand, wary guests want to see enhanced sanitation measures in place to ensure their safety. Having foodservice staff dedicated to cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting is increasingly viewed as essential to reassuring customers that an operation is committed to the health of both guests and employees. Hiring and training of customer-facing sanitation specialists is a tactic now being used by many large chains nationwide.2
For example:
- Denny’s has added a sanitation specialist trained in proper cleaning and sanitation techniques.
- Frisch’s Big Boy, a 117-unite casual-dining chain based in Cincinnati, hired Cleaning Captains at every location. They wear Cleaning Captain shirts and are often seen disinfecting high-contact areas and making sure restaurants are following hospital-level cleaning protocols.
“Our guests feel that we’re protecting them and taking necessary steps at this time,” said Chris Ford, Vice President of Operations. “The Cleaning Captains will be permanent and as they get better at their job, their duties will only increase.”2
- Chicago-based Compass Group/Eurest-owned restaurant incubator Foodworks, which brings local foodservice brands to business venues in 23 cities, hired a food safety veteran to standardize health and safety procedures across brands. Her job focused on scheduling COVID-19 training with every vendor and followed up to ensure compliance.
- Just Salad, a fast-casual chain has added “Cleaning Captains” responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of customer-facing areas and the back of house every 20-30 minutes.
Give Staff the Tools They Need to Succeed
To succeed, cleaning and sanitizing protocols need to be easy to follow, simple to train employees on, and quick to implement. Arming these new Cleaning Captains and Food Safety officers with the right tools is essential. Pre-moistened Sani Professional wipe products make cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting fast and effective. No mixing, measuring or mess. Wipe. Toss. Done!™ Plus, a variety of customer-facing dispensing accessories put Sani Professional products prominently in view to visually remind guests that steps are being taken to maintain a healthy, clean dining environment.
Sani Professional® Disinfecting Multi-Surface Wipes are on EPA’s List N: Disinfectants for Coronavirus (COVID-19). Sani Professional® No-Rinse Sanitizing Wipes are waiting for EPA approval of submitted data showing efficacy against SARS-CoV-2.
Empower your staff with our complete line of cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting wipe products.
