Germs, bacteria and viruses follow the saying: the more the merrier. Offices can be dirtier than most public places. Is the toilet the dirtiest place in the office? How can you protect yourself and stay healthy?
Depending on the number of workers, the kind of jobs that are done in the office and if the warehouse workers use the same facility, the dirtiest places in an office can vary. The Kimberly-Clark Corporation, a company that provides hygiene products around the world, used an ATP test to find shocking facts about dirty office places.
Floors
Floors belong to the dirty places in the office. Especially in the autumn and winter time, the number and species of bacteria and viruses have the potential to influence your health. The main reason is that workers wear outdoor footwear inside. If you happen to work in a small office, try to convince people to bring comfortable indoor shoes. Use professional office carpet cleaning services and please don’t believe in the 5 second rule!
Fridge
A lot of people confuse the cooling effect of the fridge with a sanitizer. The colder temperatures might slow the spreading of bacteria, however, the bad smell a fridge can evolve clearly testifies: it is dirty and you should do something. Pack foods in separate boxes to avoid the worst. The filthiest part of the fridge is the door handle. Be aware to wash your hands after touching it.
Bathrooms
Shockingly, bathrooms are usually not the places in office buildings that are the dirtiest. Door handles, faucet handles and reusable towels catch the most bacteria. Modern bathrooms in public places use gadgets that help you to avoid direct contact with any surface. Provide hand sanitizer in the bathrooms and use an office cleaning schedule to monitor the work of your professional office cleaning service
Kitchen
Kitchens are supposed to be clean: they provide the necessities for preparing food and for the preservation of food so that it is safe to eat. However, the more people use a kitchen, the dirtier it gets. The coffee machine is the dirtiest kitchen gadget, followed by microwaves, ovens and cookers, not to mention other kitchen surfaces. When keeping the kitchen clean don’t only concentrate on the fridge. Show initiative and make office kitchen cleaning schedules with your coworkers. A daily cleansing of commonly used machines and surfaces is a good addition to a professional cleaning service.
Door handles and buttons
The more people use a space, the dirtier it gets. Door handles, push buttons of water fountains, the copier and others are used so frequently that a professional cleaning becomes a necessity. If you want to clean buttons from electrical gadgets, try to wipe it with an almost dry cloth. Too much moist could destroy the electric circuits. A regular cleaning with antibacterial wipes can prevent a flood of sick leaves during the flu season.
Keyboard and mouse
Not only the surfaces that are touched by many people are a risk. Your computer’s keyboard and mouse might even be dirtier than the surface of the office toilet. This shocking fact is explained by the good breeding ground bacteria find on them. A quick snack, washing your hands in a rush, picking up a pencil from the ground, a friendly handshake with a colleague or visitor – all of the bacteria from these actions ends on your keyboard and mouse. The regular contact with your hands adds moist and warms up the surface so that bacteria will spread in record time.
Telephones
While the office phone is as dirty as your keyboard and mouse, portable smartphones and tablets are even worse. We use them on the toilet, in the kitchen, during meetings and at home. The warm place in our pockets creates a good environment for bacteria and viruses to spread. And even worse: The bacteria are transported from the office to your car and will enter your home. Clean your smartphone at regular intervals!
Be aware and protect yourself!
Staying healthy in the office is not too difficult. Be conscious about dirty spots, clean them and use hand sanitizers!
Use disinfectants
Having hand sanitizer at your desk is the first step to take when trying to stay healthy in the office. Sanitary wipes for your phone, keyboard and mouse plus the door handles you use regularly will kill most of the bacteria. Be especially tidy before having food. Convince your HR-manager or boss to provide hand sanitizer in the bathrooms and kitchens.
Office cleaning checklist
The checklist should be available in two versions: one for the tasks you and your coworkers are in charge of and one for the professional office cleaning company. Provide a chart with the place, the date it was cleaned, and if it was cleaned with disinfectant cleaners. Testifying with a name boosts the cleaning results and spreads awareness about cleanliness standards. Make sure that the right office cleaning tools are available.
Professional cleaning service
We have an eye for where the germs are and how to get rid of them. Aurora Residential Oy provides a professional office cleaning service in Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and other parts of the Uusimaa municipality. Our flexible cleaning hours will provide a stress free service in your office. Your clean office and workspace is just one click away.