A clean and organized workplace presents many benefits for business owners and their employees. It can improve safety, boost productivity, uplift the overall mood of staff and visitors, and most importantly, prevent disease transmission and other health risks. A clean workplace also projects to everyone that your business is thriving and professional.
Many people work long hours in shared indoor workspaces and offices. This is why it’s essential to maintain high standards of cleanliness so that employees can work efficiently and remain healthy. Maintaining workplace hygiene also helps limit the number of sick days employees take, and less sick leave means increased productivity and less chance of staff turnover. If staff are working in healthy and safe conditions, they tend to remain in their jobs much longer, elevating company standards and driving growth.
ESSENTIAL CLEANING TIPS FOR A HEALTHY OFFICE
The best way to keep an office clean is to avoid clutter and to commit to regular cleaning and disinfecting routines. An organized workspace prevents accidents and helps cleaners clean better. Also, daily cleaning helps keep germs at bay and prevent disease transmission. A healthy workplace is achieved by the combined efforts of both staff and daily professional commercial cleaning services.
The commercial cleaning experts at ServiceMaster Clean want to share their knowledge of the best ways to keep your workplace clean and healthy with these essential tips:
Declutter
Implement an overall office and desktop declutter policy. Designate particular days when all employees clear their desk surfaces and declutter personal and common areas. Clearing clutter can allow all surfaces to be cleaned and disinfected by commercial cleaners during regular maintenance routines.
Clean and disinfect shared high-touch areas often
High-touch areas such as shared office equipment including printers, kitchen appliances, stair rails and elevator buttons receive frequent shared use. This means these locations can harbour germs and bacteria which are easily spread and can cause disease transmission. It’s important to keep these surfaces clean and sanitized daily. Having a source of sanitizing wipes available near shared equipment can help keep these areas clean and germ-free between cleaning.
Maintain a policy of personal hygiene
Promote policies to help employees keep work areas clean and clutter-free, and to follow good personal hygiene with regular hand washing. Keep hand sanitizer available near all high-touch surfaces. Create a positive work culture by encouraging employees who are sick to stay at home.
Keep kitchen and washroom areas sanitized
Kitchen and bathroom areas are ‘hot zones’ for germs and bacteria. Ensure your professional commercial cleaners execute proper cleaning and disinfection in these areas on a daily basis. Encourage staff to follow hygienic practices in all areas involving food preparation or consumption. Post a list of kitchen cleaning rules and protocols, including one for removing expired foods from the refrigerator on a regular basis. Make sure the trash is removed and the dishwasher is emptied at the end of each day to avoid bacteria and odour buildup overnight. Also, have your commercial cleaners perform a deep kitchen clean quarterly.
Clean the floor
Floor cleanliness is a priority for both health and safety in the workplace, especially in high-traffic areas. Both carpets and hard flooring harbour significant amounts of tracked-in dirt, dust and bacteria. Food and drink spillage onto floors can also build up over time and allow bacteria to collect, affecting not only the look of the carpet, but also the air quality of the workplace.
Periodic scheduling of deep cleaning
Schedule detail deep cleaning and professional carpet cleaning at regular intervals throughout the year, depending on scale of your facility. Holidays and other slower times of the year are an ideal time to schedule deep cleaning, when offices are less busy. This can help prevent the potential spread of transmissible diseases such as colds and flu, and employees will be motivated returning to a fresh, clean work environment.
Improve indoor air quality
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is also an important consideration in maintaining workplace health and safety, especially during winter months when windows are closed. Because respiratory and flu viruses are transmitted primarily via airborne particles, poor IAQ can contribute to increased health risk, absenteeism and a loss of productivity for businesses. Maintaining clean air ducts and conducting regular deep cleaning and vacuuming of carpets significantly improves indoor air quality.
Preventative protection
To provide peace of mind and in response to the demand for higher standards of cleaning and disinfection, ServiceMaster Clean’s PROTECT-3 ADVANCE™ program provides comprehensive cleaning and disinfecting services including the use of anti-microbial products, to provide continuous, preventative protection for workplace facilities of any scale. A core feature of the program is ATP testing, a technology used in healthcare environments for decades that measures the amount of organic matter on a surface before and after cleaning and disinfection.
HOW TO INCREASE HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY IN YOUR WORKPLACE?
The professionals at ServiceMaster Clean can save you time and money while helping to you achieve a healthier and more productive work environment at your place of business. We will work with you to create a customized cleaning program to meet your business’ specific needs and schedule.