Checklist for a Restaurant Audit

by Eric Strauss
Checklists can help a restaurant ensure proper health and safety measures.

Checklists can help a restaurant ensure proper health and safety measures.

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Restaurants undergo audits for a variety of reasons from menu evaluations to facilities and design reviews. Among these, the most important may be the health and safety audit, which speaks directly to the well-being of restaurant employees and customers, who expect a properly prepared meal without any undesirable side effects. As a restaurant manager, you can conduct audits by using step-by-step checklists that highlight common safety requirements.

Rules and Regulations

A health and safety audit checklist ensures that a restaurant is following health department regulations. This includes affixing documents and posters required by law on workplace bulletin boards such as health department posters, liability insurance certificates and corporate health and safety policies. Required postings vary by location. New York, for example, requires the display of a valid operating permit and any health department documents and notices. Other items that should be displayed, or otherwise maintained, include an accident record, warning labels where necessary and safety instructions for equipment such as fire extinguishers.

Facility Safety

Audit the restaurant facility to identify trouble spots that could lead to an injury or other health issue. This includes, but is not limited to, checking hourly and daily maintenance points such as ensuring that floors are clean and free of obstacles. A facilities audit also may include a thorough pest inspection, which involves examining the building for holes and gaps where pests can enter and scheduling licensed contractors to rectify problems as needed. The audit also may review items checked less regularly such as parking lot lighting, handrails and doors.

Food Safety

Confirm proper food handling -- a critical element of restaurant audits -- by checking that the reputable vendors from whom you order food have up-to-date paperwork and that food deliveries are inspected for damage or other issues. Food-handling audit checklists verify that perishables are properly labeled and that expiration dates are acknowledged. You also should audit your kitchen equipment. This means confirming that refrigerators and stoves are running at the optimum temperatures for food safety.


If you conduct audits only a few times a year, to ensure continued compliance, you may wish to implement FDA's recommended Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, commonly known as HACCP. Through documentation, HACCP helps you to establish consistent food preparation processes and quality control measures, and to take active managerial steps to ensure that employees are properly trained and in compliance with health and safety policies.

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