Whether you run a restaurant, manage a school kitchen, or oversee food preparation in a hotel chain, your food hygiene rating is your public reputation. This food hygiene rating checklist allows you to standardize inspections, keep your team aligned, and stay on top of compliance before the inspector even walks through the door. With this template, you can document and assess hygiene standards across food handling, storage, cleaning routines, and staff practices.
Improve team accountability and hygiene scores
The food hygiene rating checklist is split into three clear sections: food handling, premises and equipment, and food safety management. You can customize it to suit your kitchen or facility layout, and assign tasks to different team members to keep everyone aligned.
This template serves you by removing guesswork from inspections. You’ll know exactly what to look for every time, with no skipped steps.
You can also use the checklist to track recurring issues, compare hygiene scores across locations, and support staff training. This way, you can maintain high standards day-to-day.
How to use the food hygiene rating checklist
Here’s a quick guide to getting started with the checklist and making it part of your daily workflow.
- Customize the template to match your operations: Start by adapting the checklist to reflect your setup. Sections for food prep, storage, and safety controls should match your processes. You can edit directly in the Lumiform app to add location-specific items or industry-specific tasks.
- Assign the checklist to the responsible person. Each checklist should be assigned to one staff member per shift, typically a supervisor or kitchen lead. They’ll walk through each section, mark findings, and note any deviations.
- Use the checklist daily before service starts. Treat it as a pre-service hygiene check. This helps you catch problems like cross-contamination risks, expired stock, or missed cleaning routines before they affect operations or customer safety.
- Add comments, photos or evidence. If something’s off, the person completing the checklist can attach a photo or note. This makes it easier for others to follow up, especially if action needs to be taken quickly.
- Track results and follow up on issues. The completed checklist feeds into your dashboard, where you can monitor trends, track recurring issues, and assign corrective actions. Over time, this gives you valuable insights that go beyond one-off inspections.
Streamline your inspections with a professional template
Download the template today and create a structured, repeatable process for hygiene inspections. Assign it to your team, add priority tasks, and include comments or photos to document findings clearly. You stay in control of what’s being checked and when, and you’ll be able to catch problems earlier.