Run a self-audit of a food establishment before the health inspector arrives, focused on the violations that actually close kitchens. Use when asked to prep for a health inspection, do a food-safety self-audit, avoid critical violations, or get ready for the health department. Produces a prioritized checklist organized by risk (critical/priority vs. non-critical), the temperature and hygiene fundamentals, a fix list with owners, and how to handle the inspector on the day.
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Use health-inspection-prep to prepare a prioritized food-safety self-audit for [establishment type and menu risk], based on [known issues] and [inspection window], with owners and deadlines; flag that local code requirements must be confirmed.
Required inputs
[establishment type and menu risk]
[known issues]
[inspection window]
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SKILL.md
name: health-inspection-prepdescription: "Run a self-audit of a food establishment before the health inspector arrives, focused on the violations that actually close kitchens. Use when asked to prep for a health inspection, do a food-safety self-audit, avoid critical violations, or get ready for the health department. Produces a prioritized checklist organized by risk (critical/priority vs. non-critical), the temperature and hygiene fundamentals, a fix list with owners, and how to handle the inspector on the day."
Health Inspection Prep Skill
Inspectors don't fail you on dust — they fail you on the handful of priority violations that make people sick: temperature abuse, cross-contamination, bare-hand contact, handwashing, and pest activity. This skill runs the self-audit the way an inspector scores it, so the critical stuff is fixed before they walk in.
Working from a brief
Given the establishment type, produce the full self-audit — prioritize by public-health risk, not by what's easiest to see. Base it on standard food-code categories; note that local codes vary and the operator should confirm specifics.
Required Inputs
Ask for (if not provided, else infer and label):
Type of establishment (full-service, quick-service, bar, food truck, commissary) and menu risk (raw proteins, sushi, etc.)
Known problem areas or a prior inspection's violations
When the inspection window is / how much time to prep
Output Format
Critical / priority items (fix first)
The violations that shut kitchens — each with the standard and a pass/fail check:
Temperature: cold holding ≤ 41°F, hot holding ≥ 135°F, cooking temps, cooling (135→70°F in 2h, 70→41°F in 4h), thermometer calibrated.
Cross-contamination: raw-above-ready storage order, separate boards/utensils, sanitizer concentration.
Hygiene: handwash sinks stocked & accessible, no bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food, sick-employee policy.
Pests: no activity/harborage, entry points sealed.
Non-critical (address, won't close you)
Facility, labeling, storage, cleaning cadence.
Fix list
Item
Risk
Fix
Owner
By when
On the day
How to receive the inspector: cooperate, don't argue, know where the logs and permits are, correct-on-the-spot where possible, and how to respond to a violation professionally.
Quality Checks
Critical/priority items are separated from cosmetic ones and listed first
Temperature holding, cooling, and cross-contamination are all covered with specific thresholds
Handwashing and no-bare-hand-contact are explicitly checked
Every found gap has a fix, an owner, and a deadline
A note that local food codes vary and specifics should be confirmed
Anti-Patterns
Deep-cleaning visible surfaces while ignoring cold-holding temps
Treating all violations as equal (a critical temp violation ≠ a scuffed floor)
No thermometer calibration or temperature logs
Blocking or arguing with the inspector on the day
Prepping once instead of building the habits that pass every time