Office kitchens and washrooms are shared spaces where employees gather. It is essential for hygiene to be prioritised in these areas, preventing the spread of germs, while ensuring you maintain a clean and hygienic environment.
Shared kitchen and washroom hygiene is essential in today's office environment. Let's take a closer look:
Shared kitchens and washrooms are breeding grounds for viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. With proper cleaning and hygiene practices, you can reduce the spread of illness, helping to reduce absenteeism, while creating a healthier environment for employees and visitors.
When you create a clean and healthy shared kitchen or washroom environment, it promotes health and well-being, providing employees with a comfortable and pleasant environment.
There are a few tips you can follow, ensuring your in-house cleaning team follows a set cleaning schedule and plan:
In order to keep shared kitchens sparkling and healthy, you will need a regular cleaning schedule. These shared areas should be cleaned daily, sometimes more than once a day in large and busy office spaces. Focus on high touch areas, such as door handles, fridge, handles, microwave buttons, counter tops, and taps.
Employees should be encouraged to chip in and help, by washing their dishes after use. Put up signs encouraging them to wash their dishes with hot water and dish soap, effectively removing bacteria. Dishes should be dried and packed away properly to prevent mould and bacteria growth.
Shared kitchens are often littered with employees lunches they bring from home, which is why you need to ensure employees understand the importance of food storage. Employees should label their foot items, along with the date, avoiding confusion, while reducing the risk of food spoiling, which brings unpleasant odours, bacteria, and potentially encourage pests.
Shared washrooms should also be an important part of your daily cleaning schedule. Again, in busy office spaces with a lot of foot traffic, washrooms may need cleaning and sanitising more than once daily:
Create a cleaning routine for shared washrooms where toilets, basins, and surfaces are thoroughly cleaned and sanitised, along with door handles and locks. Pay attention to handrails and taps. Remember to ensure toilet paper, hand towels, and hand soap are regularly topped up.
In order to encourage hygiene, ensure you provide ample hand hygiene from soap dispensers and hand sanitisers to hand dryers or paper towels. Promote hand washing practices to reduce the spread of germs within the office space.
Shared washrooms should be regularly inspected for any leaks, malfunctions, and plumbing problems. Toilets, taps, and soap dispensers should always be in good working order.
Shared kitchens and washrooms are common areas, used by all employees. Therefore, you can encourage employee participation:
Maintaining hygiene in shared kitchens and washrooms is essential to ensure the health and safety of your employees and visitors. Establish a regular cleaning routine, encourage employee participation, while promoting hygiene practices in the workplace. Prioritise hygiene, working with your team to ensure your office is a clean and welcoming area. Do you need help maintaining hygiene in your shared spaces? Contact Sloane Cleaning Services now to find out how.