While an office can look clean to the naked eye, it can be a germ hotspot! With lots of different people all coming together in one place, a clean workplace can be hard to maintain if you don’t know where to target. Scroll on for tips on where to find those germ hotspots in your office and how to tackle them.
Germ Hotspots
From viruses that give you colds and sickness bugs to bacteria that can lead to gastrointestinal issues, they can all lurk in the office.
Discover all the places you forgot to clean:
1. Shared Office Items
One of the beauties of sharing an office space is being able to share equipment, such as printers and photocopiers. However, these items can harbour bacteria if they’re not cleaned regularly. Think about how many times those buttons can be pressed in just one day!
2. Breakrooms, Kitchens and Appliances
While breakrooms can be a space to escape the stresses of the day, they can be a germ hotspot. This is because food items are consumed, and multiple people are using the same equipment. Everyone is likely to be rushing to make their lunch before the next person, so basic hygiene can be missed.
3. Personal Items
Mice, mousemats, computer screens, desk chairs, laptops and pen pots are handled multiple times throughout the day. While these items are usually used by one person, that one person will have been handling communal items before touching their personal items.
4. High-touch surfaces
How many times do we engage through touch with the items around us, and we don’t even remember doing it? This can include light switches and door handles.
5. Carpets and upholstery
Unlike at home, workers aren’t expected to take their shoes off when they come into the office. This brings unwanted dirt from the outside world into the office space. Similarly, curtains and blinds can stay in place for years without a spin through the dry cleaners.
Top Tips for a Clean Workplace: For Employees
While professional cleaners should know where to find these germ hotspots, your employees can also help reduce the spread of bacteria and infections. Read on for some advice on how to get your workers involved in tackling those germ hotspots:
1. General office rules
Creating a set of office rules or guidelines can help keep your office clean and tidy. Consider adding points such as:
- Keep personal items to a minimum – a clutter-free desk can be more easily cleaned
- No food in waste paper bins – keeping food waste in the kitchen space prevents smells and residue from being left behind
- Wipe down your desk daily – providing wipes, such as our anti-virus and antibacterial surface wipes, makes it easier for employees to keep on top of desk germs
- Use hand sanitiser before touching communal items – place these next to germ hotspots, such as entry points to office space and printers. Explore our range of hand sanitisers here.
- Respect your cleaners – remind them of the day/time when the professional cleaners will visit. This enables them to time their decluttering to suit the cleaners’ schedules.
Consider adding the office rules for keeping the office clean to any induction packs for new employees. This helps them to start as they mean to go on and creates positive habits.
You can also print off the rules and display laminated copies around the office near those germ hotspots. That way, employees are constantly reminded of what they need to do and why it is important.
2. Office kitchen rules
While the general office rules can apply in the main office space, you can have a separate set of rules for the kitchen space. Consider including:
- Wipe up after yourself – think bean juice, bread crumbs and soup explosions in the microwave. Spills should not be left to the cleaner; everyone has a responsibility to clean up after themselves. Shop our range of cleaning cloths here.
- Leave it as you found it – leaving spoons in the sink, bowls on the side, and glasses on top of the dishwasher are all bad hygiene habits. You wouldn’t do it at home, so don’t do it in the office!
- Fridge etiquette – don’t let food go mouldy in the fridge. Consider implementing a process whereby the fridge is cleared every Friday, so employees are encouraged to take items home or bin them. This stops harmful bacteria from building up in the fridge
You could also implement a dishwasher emptying schedule, with each employee taking turns to empty and put away clean items.
3. Team tidy-up time
If your office team is making your cleaners’ lives more difficult by having cluttered desks, you could implement ‘team tidy-up time’.
Put a 15-minute slot in the diary once per month where all employees are expected to have a clear diary and set aside this short time in the day to declutter their space. This could include getting rid of unnecessary paperwork, leaflets, letters and print-outs. Why not put on some music and have a bit of fun with it?
By making it a team event, it encourages everyone to get involved.
Other Benefits of a Clean Workplace
Did you know that the physical environment that we work in can have a positive or negative effect on our productivity, depending on how clean and tidy it is? A piece of research highlighted in the Harvard Business Review shared:
- Clutter can affect our general mental health, making us feel more anxious or stressed
- A clear desk helps to improve focus and productivity
- Those with a messy desk are perceived to be less conscientious and more neurotic
Research in The HR Director also states that a whopping 46 per cent of respondents claimed that they’d had at least one sick day in the past year due to their unhygienic workplace. This was estimated to be a £1.56 billion cost to UK employers.
You can purchase a range of cleaning items on our website for your team to use to keep on top of day-to-day cleanliness, as well as products for your team of professional cleaners to use. Browse here.
