Office Cleanliness: The Nasty Truth

Commercial Cleaning For Offices

Germs are often out of sight, out of mind! If you don’t see them, then they don’t exist, right? Wrong! You may only start thinking about them when you learn that someone else is sick or you have a good reason to avoid sickness. The reality is that germs surround us daily, but you might be surprised at just where those germs are lurking – especially around the office.

Your place of employment is where you spend a large chunk of your life. However, many times we don’t have a say in the type of cleaning standards in our offices or public spaces, and these are the locations where more germs can spread than any other place. Over time, as we become more comfortable with our daily surroundings, we can get comfortable with the standard of “clean” we experience and may not even realize that we are actually dealing with a downright dirty situation. 

So, where ARE the germs hiding? 

What’s the dirty truth on how clean your space is? 

Here are the top hot spots to watch out for:

1. Cell Phone:   A US study has found that on average phones are the most contaminated item in the office. Dr Charles P Gerba from the University of Arizona, found over 25,000 organisms per surface.[1] Your phone typically goes with you everywhere these days, so take care to wipe it down from time to time!
2. Desktop Items:  Similar studies to the University of Arizona study found that most items on a desk are seven times more contaminated than other items like a toilet seat. Consider the last time you cleaned your desktop items compared to how often a toilet gets cleaned.
3. Communal Refrigerators:  These are another huge culprit! Not only are these a hotbed of germs because of the food that could go bad, but you have so many different food containers coming together in one space. Watch the temperatures in your fridge to make sure they’re keeping food cold enough and at safe levels. Don’t forget, too, that the handles of the fridge and freezer are handled multiple times a day by most people in the office!
4. Keyboard & Mouse:  One study by Gerber found more than 3,000 micro-organisms per square inch on keyboards and over 1,600 bacteria per square inch on a computer mouse.  If you share a workspace, it’s especially important to know this stat and to keep these surfaces on the cleaning checklist!  
5. Door Handles: Think about all of the employees, customers, and other guests who come in and out of your office space. There are thousands of opportunities for germs to come in contact with a surface daily! Often we’re moving too fast to even think about it!
6. Phones: If you use any desk phones, keep in mind that mouths come in close contact with the phone surface at every use. When it’s a public or shared phone in an office space, it’s an even bigger risk for germ spreading!
7. Photocopier: The photocopier and other shared pieces of equipment (fax machines, printers, etc.) are popular places for germs to congregate as well! So many buttons to press, so little time, and so many germs to collect! The fact is that we’re often coming to these devices so fast that we forget that so many others have touched the buttons and surfaces in a rush just like we’re doing. It’s an easy place to spread germs.

The Dirty Truth:  Your Space is Dirtier Than You Think!

There’s no need to jump into a bubble suit everyday for work, but a few smart cleaning strategies can help make your office environment a safer, cleaner, and healthier one for all! Commercial cleaning services like ours at AK Building Services are able to come in and not just take care of the obvious things like trash cans and vacuuming, but go beyond just looks to get at the true problem spots. We take a meticulous approach to commercial cleaning services, making spaces look great, but also with less germs too! 

You want the dirty truth? If your commercial cleaning service isn’t paying attention to these problem zones we just mentioned, they really aren’t cleaning your space!