Considering we spend most of our lives at work, having a clean, germ-free office is important for many different reasons.
Let’s fight back against those pesky germs, have a cleaner and healthier office!
1. Dirty Doors
Starting from the entrance to your office building, a door handle or door/lift button has a large number of bacteria, due to the number of people walking in and out of the building every day.
The door handle in your office that has the most germs is guaranteed to be the toilet door handle. A few surveys over the last few years have revealed that one in four of the UK population does not wash their hands after going to the toilet! YUCK!
Tip– Use anti-bacterial gel as much as you can.
2. Filthy Fridge
With healthier eating becoming more popular, staff are starting to bring their own lunch into the office more and popping it into the office fridge.
A lot of staff then not surprisingly forget about what they put in the fridge, because instead, they feel like going out with their work colleagues.
The food is then left to go mouldy and the office fridge is one of those places that you just don’t think to clean.
Tip – Introduce a fridge cleaning schedule to your employees to clean out unwanted food every week.
3. Dusty Desk & Phone
The most amount of time in any office workers day is spent at their desk, so no wonder this area has the most germs throughout the whole of the office! Yes, even dirtier than the office toilets!
Your office phone can be the dirtiest item in the office, so keeping it clean is very important for a healthier workplace.
Another germ thriving culprit is your pen, the reason being a lot of us chew it! I am one of those pen chewing culprits, so shame on me!
Tip #1 – Wipe your desk phone every morning with an anti-bacterial wipe.
Tip #2 – Stop chewing your pen! I solemnly swear I will stop, only if you do as well though!
4. Messy Mouse & Keyboard
Your mouse and keyboard alone can have more bacteria per square inch than a toilet seat!
If you work on a hot-desk, then the number of bacteria only increases and it isn’t just your bacteria! YUCK!
Tip – Use anti-bacterial wipes or a cleaning spray, then wipe your keyboard and mouse with a clean tissue.
5. Germ Riddling Rucksack
Yes, your rucksack has a surprising number of germs on it! The reasons for this being, your bag is put down all over the office, including sometimes the toilet floor.
Tip – Keep hold of your bag until you get to your desk and clean your bag every so often at home.
6. Mucky Mug
There is always that lonely mug that is sat on someone’s desk at the end of the day, while all his other mug friends are in the dishwasher, or all cleaned, sitting comfortably on the side.
That mug left on the desk is then used again the next day without being washed! That is a big no no and this particular person in the office needs to get out of this habit!
Tip– Rinse your mug after every cuppa, and at the end of the day make sure it is put in the dishwasher or washed up!
7. Germ Polluted Printer
Your printer and/or photocopier is used a lot during a day’s work by a numerous amount of people. So, the buttons on these items are riddling with germs by the end of the day!
Tip– Just give it a wipe again with an anti-bacterial wipe, after every time you use it. If you start this habit, others should follow you!
8. Water Cooler
The dirtiest thing in your office may surprise you, it is the water cooler! With this being used the most in the office and staff standing around chatting, germs are spread around the water cooler more than any other place in the office!
Tip – Just give the water cooler a wipe every day, especially the nozzle, just with a wet cloth.
Bonus Germ Hotspot – Gruesome Guests
A bonus germ hotspot for you is the guests that come to your office! You know your workers, their habits and how often they clean, but with guests, you have no idea!
The guest that has just walked through your door could have just been wrestling pigs in a pig-pen and only rinsed his hands and not washed them properly, therefore riddling with germs!
Tip – Offer your guest a drink and hope they say yes so you can secretly go and wash your hands or use some anti-bacterial hand gel.
Here are ServiceMaster Clean UK we can take over your office cleaning and make sure all of these hotspots are cleaned thoroughly apart from the guests obviously!
To find your local ServiceMaster Clean UK click here.
