How to minimise illnesses this winter by maintaining a clean and hygienic workplace.
As the nights draw in and the winter months approach; as does regular cold and flu season. This is always a big concern for businesses across the globe, and due to a more vulnerable population through an overall lack of immunity to the flu, public health officials are preparing for an especially harsh winter.
During this time, it’s important to remain vigilant in protecting your workplace from the spread of diseases by continuing the good hygiene practices that most have fallen into during the pandemic. Whilst these will help to minimise staff sickness and absences, they can only do so much. Therefore, it is also important to take the necessary steps to keep your staff and workplace safe. This includes:
- Staying home if you are feeling ill
Pre-COVID, most office-workers in the UK would likely admit to being guilty of maintaining a ‘stiff upper-lip’ and going into work despite a sniffle and a cough. And whilst the recent easing of government restrictions may make it feel safe to slip back into old habits, public health officials are urging people to steer clear of the workplace if they fall ill this winter, whether with COVID19 or something else.
- Routinely cleaning surfaces
COVID19 and other viruses like the flu can potentially survive on surfaces for some time, ranging from a few hours, to a number of days. Luckily, both COVID and the influenza virus are fairly fragile. This means that typical cleaning and disinfecting practices should be enough to kill them, provided that this is done regularly.
- Regularly disinfecting high-touch point areas
COVID19 and the flu can both be spread through touch, so be sure to be vigilant in cleaning any surfaces or objects in your office that are frequently come into contact with – such as desks, keyboards, chair arms, phones, door handles, taps, or bannisters. These areas should be cleaned up to three or four times a day if possible, depending on the busyness of your workplace.
- Regularly removing waste
It may seem obvious, but you should be emptying and sanitising your bins and wastebaskets daily to get rid of items like tissues that can harbour bacteria and germs.
- Vacuuming and cleaning carpets
Deep cleaning or vacuuming your carpets regularly helps reduce the spread of germs and also improves the indoor air quality in your office. This is especially important when dealing with airborne pathogens like COVID and influenza. You could also help this by clearing out your air-conditioning/heating systems.
If these practices feel difficult to maintain by yourself, why not get in touch with us and use ServiceMaster Clean for a regular and high quality office cleaning service? Trust us to help you get ready for winter this year, and keep your premises germ and virus free by letting us handle all your commercial janitorial needs.
Click here to find your nearest ServiceMaster Clean and learn more about our services today.
Another blog post you may be interested in reading is on promoting good hygiene in the workplace