The working environment is such a busy place and it can endure hours of traffic from yourself, the people you work with and all of the bacteria that you all bring into the place! Without intending to make you over worry we do think that its worth considering a few different aspects of keeping the office clean.
We have all heard the saying ‘’It’s safer to eat from your bathtub than it is from your kitchen work surface.’’ Well this is true in many ways, we have to remember that places where cleaning is done, are oft associated with dirt etc, but it is the high traffic living areas that harbour the real hygiene threats. Think door handles, keyboards, office desks, seats and such like.
What can be done about it?
Numerous studies have shown that the work office is a hotbed for germs, let’s take a look at Charles P Gerba, an expert on intestinal diseases, their origin and other household microbes, he is one of the first microbiologists to study in depth on bacteria in the workplace.
As we mentioned, aside from actual cubicles the main bacteria infested areas are the communal areas, items such as telephones, desk space etc are the worst. So how often are you cleaning yours or making sure your staff are being hygienic?
Some of the hard facts
Telephones- A typical desk phone can harbour over 25,000 bacteria per surface. It is constantly going from hand to mouth and how many of those times is it being cleaned or disinfected? Ouch, right?
Desks- An average desk is not much better, they are a first point of contact for nearly everything from everywhere, deliveries etc. Some office space desks have been proven to have more than 400 times the bacteria of a toilet seat.
Desktop keyboard- Microbiologist Gerba believes that the average keyboard has roughly 3300 bacteria per surface. Offices in London are regularly checked and carry bugs that can give a person food poisoning. 4 out of 33 desks are considered potential health hazards. Keyboards accumulate the same things that your nose and gut will, but obviously don’t have an immune system to fight them off.
Office environments can be a stressful place and work can get very hectic for those involved, so it may seem like little tasks of keeping on top of cleanliness are futile, but a little extra due care among yourself and staff can be the difference between a safer work and environment and people becoming unnecessarily ill.
We will go into more detail in the next article on how you can take such steps to do so. After all, we are here to help and cleanliness is the aim of our game, it makes everybody’s world better and its worth putting the work in. So sharing is caring and we aim to continue giving you good content so we are always your first stop for all things hygiene!
