The 15 Germiest Places in YOUR Office as Flu Season Approaches
You want to avoid sickness and with flu season right around the corner, this is a great time to assess the cleanliness of your office.
In an article published by WebMd on December 23, 2018, Dr. Laura J. Martin, MD shares her professional insights. She sites 15 common office locations that tend to gather the most germs (aka bacteria) and strategies to sanitize and/or avoid them. The article does a great job, so I won't attempt to re-write it. I will simply list the 15 areas, site her takeaways, and add my perspective as a cleaning company owner for 14 years. This article could be a great resource for an upcoming staff meeting as well as a solid checklist for your cleaning service to evaluate in hopes of reducing your sick day call outs this cold & flu season!
- Elevator Buttons - I've been in your offices and do not think this will apply to many. Just keep this in mind as you visit other offices. The "L" button for Lobby really stands for Laxative!
- Door Handles - Your cleaning service should be sanitizing door handles on a regular basis. Get in the habit of washing your hands with warm water & soap for at least 20 seconds often.
- Desktops - Dr. Martin reports that there are 400 times more germs on your desktop than a toilet seat! Sit on that! Make sure your cleaning service is sanitizing your desks on a regular basis. More importantly, you will learn that 80% of prevention of sickness is what YOU do DAILY. The other 20% can be maintained by your cleaning service. However, if your cleaning service is not sanitizing this WebMd list, they should be.
- Keyboards - It just sits there as a huge germ collector all day, every day. Have your cleaning service disinfect keyboards on some recurring frequency. Read the WebMd on this one. It's gross!
- Telephones - It's worse than your desktop (which is worse than a toilet seat)! Get some clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, and have your cleaning service do it regularly.
- Office Equipment - Your hands go from your phone to keyboard to coffee mug to door handle to copier button. Hello sickness! The buttons on your general use office equipment are rarely cleaned. Change that!
- Water Cooler - Want some controversy in your office... read Dr. Martin's take on your Water-e-Coli... I mean water cooler. Train your staff how to use the water cooler because they need to be trained. Your cleaning service can sanitize the dispensers on a regular basis, but it may not help as the water cooler is touched hundreds of times per day!
- Coffee Maker - Dr. Martin gives a brilliant hack to kill the bacteria growing inside of your coffee maker using white vinegar to clean it out from the inside. The same advice applies from the water cooler here.
- Coffee Pot - Many offices use Keurig-type systems now. For the others, don't ignore cleaning & disinfecting the coffee pot handle! Your cleaning service can wash & sanitize during their visits.
- Coffee Mugs - I worked in Corporate America for 6 years as an engineer. Bill was a brilliant engineer, but I would nearly dry heave when I saw his grimy, yellow, germ-infested coffee cup that he held ALL DAY LONG!!! Dr. Martin sites a study proving that your coffee cup has "significant germs" including poop!!! Case closed! Your cleaning service can't help here, except to accidentally throw some coffee cups out. Oops! Sorry about that!
- Break Room Sink - Your cleaning service is obviously cleaning & sanitizing the sink every visit as it's a major collector of bacteria. Don't neglect the handles as they are the worst!
- Kitchen Sponges - Dr. Martin states that "most new sponges will have bacteria like E. coli and salmonella within 3 weeks.". Did you know you could microwave your sponge to kill bacteria. I just learned it from Dr. Martin! Otherwise, replace the sponge weekly or have your cleaning service do it!
- Microwave Door - Speaking of the microwave, it's an absolute MUST that your cleaning service cleans & disinfects your unit and especially the handle weekly!
- Vending Machines - I don't see many smaller offices with these. If you do, think of it this way. You thought the snacks were unhealthy. You actually get sick from touching the buttons! The snack is the bonus.
- Restrooms - This is a vital area for your cleaning service. Obviously, the toilet is dirty. Did you ever think about the flushing & faucet handles? It's the ultimate oxy-moron to think you're getting clean hands as you wash with soap & warm water for 20 seconds and then turn off the water! Make sure your cleaning service is sanitizing weekly and staff is using precautions as Dr. Martin recommends.
- Refrigerator - I am adding one to the list. Over the course of my cleaning career, I have offered a quarterly refrigerator deep clean & disinfect as an add-on service. Oh my! People leave all kinds of nasty leftover food and expired condiments. The refrigerator becomes a zoo for bacteria to grow... and then you pull your food from there and eat it every day. Eliminate leftovers by the NEXT DAY. Throw out expired condiments. Have your refrigerator disinfected every 3 months! Side note: I use the words "sanitize" and "disinfect" throughout this article. They are NOT the same. Sanitize brings the levels of bacteria down to a safe level. Disinfection eliminates it!