Is your job making you sick? Recent studies proved that our workplaces could have more germs and bacteria per square inch than an average bathroom: when we share office phones, we could be sharing more than 25 million bacteria and viruses – per square inch. Office desks have more than 10 million bacteria per square inch, and keyboards host more than 20,000 germs per square inch. Professional cleaning services clean all of these surfaces regularly: it’s just that we use them so frequently and that we share germs with our co-workers. Many offices have closed heating and cooling systems, and the possibility for sharing colds is extremely high, especially in winter months.
There are many types of cleaning services, and they all clean our offices from top to bottom. If you or your co-workers just can’t shake the flu, the culprit may be your office’s ventilation system. Allergies are higher among workers who spend more than six hours per day in offices with closed ventilation systems: if you have children who are in day care, you could be passing serious illness on to your co-workers without realizing it. Most private school cleaning services note that the flu virus can spend more than 48 hours on surfaces like desks and rugs before they run out of gas: if you work in an office or school, you should clean your desk at least once per day.
Health experts report that most colds and flus are spread by people touching surfaces that host the flu bug: if you hire a professional cleaning service, you should request that they make a special point of cleaning doorknobs and the handles of your office’s refrigerator. Places that are touched by multiple people every day could be spreading the flu without your realizing it: if everyone in your office keeps getting sick but nobody knows why, it might be time for a more thorough cleaning. Any professional cleaning service employs effective chemicals and also cleans thoroughly: your office could have the flu virus on its plants from people coughing or it could have the flu virus on chairs or on the underside of employee desks.
If the flu just won’t leave your office alone, you might want to talk to your janitorial service about its mops. Studies consistently show that businesses that use older style “rag mops” instead of newer, disposable mop technology suffer from more severe and extended employee illnesses. Even if your janitorial service treats its mops and cleans them every day, the possibility of transferring colds and flus between the floors of your office is high. Hospitals typically prohibit mop travel between floors in order to cut down on the risk of infections, and more are making the switch to using disposable cloths instead of mops that may be used and reused for years.
Typically, a janitorial service can help you cut down on the risk of cold and flu in your office. They usually clean after normal business hours and may be willing to come in on the weekend to do a deep cleaning. If you’re looking for tips for hiring a cleaning company, just look for companies that rotate their deep cleaning schedules. One day, they may clean all of the waste paper baskets, and then the next, clean all of the office’s chairs. If the office is too large to be deep cleaned every day, a janitorial service will typically rotate their cleaning schedule to cover everything: talk to your cleaning team about any issues that arise.
Every year, American businesses lose more than $500 billion due to employee absences due to illness. Offices that are able to implement a thorough cleaning schedule could save on the costs of employee absenteeism: if your employees keep getting sick, however, the problem could lie with your ventilation system. Take the time to check your office building’s health: it could make a big difference in your business’ profit margin.
