Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment.

Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 10 occupations and seen in 17 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas. in Performing General Physical Activities .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 17 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 0 (0%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables. · Cooks, Short Order · importance 4.8 · no direct exposure
• Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices. · Cooks, Restaurant · importance 4.7 · no direct exposure
• Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware. · Food Preparation Workers · importance 4.7 · no direct exposure
• Clean food preparation areas, cooking surfaces, and utensils. · Cooks, Fast Food · importance 4.6 · no direct exposure
• Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation. · Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria · importance 4.6 · no direct exposure
• Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming carpet, tidying up server station, taking out trash, or checking and cleaning bathroom. · Waiters and Waitresses · importance 4.5 · no direct exposure
• Maintain sanitation, health, and safety standards in work areas. · Cooks, Fast Food · importance 4.5 · no direct exposure
• Maintain kitchen work areas, equipment, or utensils in clean and orderly condition. · Dishwashers · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Perform general cleaning activities in kitchen and dining areas. · Cooks, Short Order · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Vacuum dining area and sweep and mop kitchen floor. · Food Preparation Workers · importance 4.3 · no direct exposure
• Sweep or scrub floors. · Dishwashers · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary. · Fast Food and Counter Workers · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Clean and organize eating, service, and kitchen areas. · Fast Food and Counter Workers · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Supervise and participate in kitchen and dining area cleaning activities. · First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Clean and polish counters, shelves, walls, furniture, or equipment in food service areas or other areas of restaurants and mop or vacuum floors. · Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment. · Fast Food and Counter Workers · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Clean garbage cans with water or steam. · Dishwashers · importance 3.6 · no direct exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Cooks, Short Order
• Cooks, Restaurant
• Food Preparation Workers
• Cooks, Fast Food
• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
• Waiters and Waitresses
• Dishwashers
• Fast Food and Counter Workers
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
• Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-clean-food-preparation-areas-facilities-or-equipment,
  title  = {Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/clean-food-preparation-areas-facilities-or-equipment}
}