Workplace kitchen etiquette was this week’s topic that I spoke about on Josh Szep’s Afternoon show on ABC702.

Workplace kitchen etiquette subjects that were covered:

The Fridge
Do not leave your old food in the office fridge.  Nobody wants to use work time to go through common space, throw out garbage and have to disinfect because you “forgot” about that sandwich from last month.

Clean up and Wash Up After Yourself  
Others need to eat in that kitchen and need to have the ability to prepare their lunch or snack in a clean environment.  It is very unpleasant to have lots of dirty dishes in the sink and on the bench tops.

Spills
If you accidentally spill something on the floor, clean it up. If can be very dangerous if someone slips.

Strong Odours  
Food with a strong odour is not for everyone.  Be very mindful of the odour of your food.  Also, if you heat up food with a strong odour in the microwave, the microwave will then smell for quite some time afterwards.  

Do Not Eat Other People’s Food
Only eat and drink what is yours.  No matter how tempting another employee’s drink or food appears, it doesn’t belong to you.  

Label Your Food 
Write your name in bold letters to make sure there is no doubt about who your food or drink belong to.  This way, someone can’t honestly say he accidentally picked up something he thought was his.

Workplace kitchen etiquette was a very popular topic with many listeners ringing in with horror stories about their work place kitchen.  One man rang in to say that the kitchen in his office was constantly left in such a bad state that he had the kitchen taken out and his staff had to buy their coffee at the local take away.