It’s that time of year, when bugs are abound in the office workplace, and companies start to see a rise in staff sickness levels. To help combat this, we’ve put together our list of top germ hotspots you can focus your cleaning efforts on over the next few months.
1. Telephones
These can get used a lot throughout the day, and as well as your own phone, you may end up answering your colleagues’ phones too.
As they come into close contact with both your hands and face, it’s important to clean the handset and buttons thoroughly to get rid of anything nasty lurking on them. If possible, try to wipe them down at least once a week.
2. Door handles
With people moving around all day, it’s no surprise that these are touched frequently, causing a build-up of bacteria. As a high-risk area, it’s a good idea to add these to your cleaning rota and ensure they are cleaned regularly.
To help reduce the level of germs on door handles, it’s always worth looking into installing automatic or card-activated doors, which can also make entry and exit for staff and customers a little easier, too.
3. Desks
Did you know that research has shown there are a huge 21,000 germs per square inch on chairs, desks, and keyboards? This is 100 times more than a kitchen and 400 times more than a toilet seat.
To reduce the risk of sickness due to dirty desks, try to encourage good hand-washing practices and tidy desk practices. This will prevent desks from becoming breeding grounds for bugs, especially if you have staff in the office who are already ill, and your workplace offers hotdesking.
Try to set regular sessions for this task, and make sure all cleaning equipment is easily accessible. Providing packs of antibacterial wipes, and bins for tissues and other rubbish will also help people keep their desks clean and tidy.
4. Fridge
According to researchers from Microban Europe, some fridges have an average of 7850 bacteria colony-forming units per square centimetre. Therefore, a clean fridge is a must when dealing with food and drink!
With frequent touching from lots of different people, and food that gets forgotten over the weekend or when staff are on holiday, the fridge can quickly become overrun with germs.
Try to wipe down the handle(s) and the inside surfaces every couple of days with antibacterial wipes, and arrange to do a full, deep clean every month.
We also recommend checking it for out-of-date produce every week in case there’s something nasty going off in there! Hopefully this will help prevent people from leaving old food in the fridge, and will slow down the growth of mould and bacteria.
Other areas where people prep food, such as the microwaves, hobs and chopping boards, should also be given special attention.
5. Printers and photocopiers
These pieces of communal equipment have the potential to become hotspots for germs, with multiple people touching and using them each day (particularly the buttons and touchscreen).
To keep these as clean as possible, provide hand sanitiser to use both before and after touching them.
Again, like the fridge and other kitchen appliances, try to schedule a regular time for cleaning and disinfecting the printers and/or photocopiers.
Conclusion
With these tips in mind, you can make your office a cleaner, safer place this winter, and all year round.
While it may seem like a difficult feat, try to get your staff on board with your new cleaning policies, and if you find you’re still struggling, look for a professional office cleaning company like Cotswold Gleam Team to lend you an extra hand.
We provide high quality commercial cleaning services to businesses throughout the Oxfordshire area and will tailor our quote to your individual needs. For more, please contact us today on 01993 252575 or email: info@cotswoldgleamteam.co.uk.