Is your office as clean as you think?

How to keep your workspace clean and safe on your return to work

As offices start to fill up and people return to work after 18 months of remote working, be prepared for old habits — and questionable hygiene — to return.

From the worst germ harbourers at work to how to do a deep office clean, let’s look at the steps you can take to reduce the risk of illness caused by poor office cleanliness.

Worst Office Hygiene Culprits

Do you know where the most germ-ridden places in the office are? You might be surprised!

For example, your desktop has 21,000 more bacteria per square inch than a toilet seat. The photocopier Start button is also a hidden culprit: a study revealed the button holds 1.2 billion colony forming units (i.e., germs).

Other commonly-touched places you might not think to regularly clean include the coffee pot and kettle handles (which the same study discovered seem to harbour the most antibiotic-resistant germs, too). Elevator buttons and stairway rails — especially at the start and end of a flight — also get forgotten in cleaning regimes.

Do you have a habit of biting your pen while you think? You might not anymore when you hear that 14 per cent of pens harbour staphylococcus aureus — at that was on pens at home. At the office, that’ll be a much higher figure.

The dirtiest place in any office? The kitchen sink. More specifically, the tap faucet — and the sponge used to wash up communal cups.

Poor Office Cleanliness Costs

All of these germy places add up to one thing: increased risk of illness spreading across the office. We’re all far more aware of the importance of clean hands following the Covid-19 pandemic, but the risk still remains.

Even taking into account Covid-19 and people working from home, minor illnesses like cold and flu (not Covid) accounted for 26.1% o the 118.6 million lost working days in 2020. Overall, sick days actually reduced that year too — because over 47% of employees spent at least part of their time working remotely from home, and not mixing in an office.

Top Office Cleaning Tips for Back to Work

The good news is there is plenty you can do to keep a clean and hygienic office space to prevent illness spreading across your staff.

General daily cleaning tasks should include:

- Using anti-bacterial sprays or wipes on desks, phones, and shared surfaces

- Washing cups and plateware in a dishwasher rather than by hand

- Cleaning out the fridge once a week

- Implementing a clear-desk policy to ensure desks can be easily cleaned

- Reminding staff to maintain clean hands at all times

Employees can also take responsibility for their personal workspace. Offer disinfectant wipes and encourage regular cleaning of keyboards, phones, mice, and other equipment in use.

There are further tasks you can undertake to ensure your office remains clean even through cold and flu season. An office deep clean by a specialist company, for example, can help tackle the tricky areas with techniques such as steam cleaning furnishings. Investing in a professional regular office clean is a good way to save money: it will reduce the risk of infection and lost productivity, as well as reducing the cost of sick leave (and overtime to cover staff).

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