Any office environment must be maintained in a clean and healthy manner. This is not only for appearances, but for the overall health and productivity of your team and visitors. Regular cleaning routines cover desks, floors, and communal areas, high touch surfaces are what poses the greatest risk. These are areas within your office that your employees interact with throughout the day, accumulating bacteria and germs.
If you ignore these high touch areas, it can increase absenteeism, reduce morale, and reduce your professional image. Continue reading below for the high touch areas in offices you should never ignore, along with why they matter.
Door handles and push plates are the most frequently touched surface in any office. From entrance doors to toilet doors, and meeting room doors, they have hundreds of hands coming into contact with them each day. These surfaces are in high traffic areas, quickly becoming carriers for germs. Regular disinfecting is essential. Ideally numerous times daily for busy office spaces.
If your office is in a building that is serviced by lifts and stairs, lift buttons and handrails quickly become hotspots for microbial contamination. These areas are used by people throughout the day and should be sanitised frequently.
Employee workstations are one of the dirtiest places in any office. In fact, studies have found that desks can harbour more bacteria that the average toilet seat. This is due to them being constantly touched, along with eating at desks and infrequent cleaning. We recommend encouraging staff to wipe down their personal equipment regularly, along with professionally scheduled sanitisation sessions.
Office phones, shared headsets and mobile headsets are often overlooked during routine cleaning. They are used close to the mouth, transferring germs quickly and effortlessly. These high touch surfaces must be disinfected numerous times daily, disinfecting after each use.
Office kitchens are social hubs, but they are also high hygiene risk areas. High touch surfaces include kettle handles, coffee machine buttons, fridge door handles, microwave keypads, along with cupboard and drawer handles. These items are touched by multiple people throughout the day, increasing the spread of illness.
These high touch areas are often missed as they don't look dirty, but they are touched more often than you think. These switches and controls should be disinfected regularly, preventing cross contamination.
Meeting room equipment including touchscreens, phones and remote controls are often used multiple times daily in meetings. They are often overlooked in routine cleaning, yet they can spread germs between teams quickly.
Your office's reception desk and seating areas are high touch areas that are touched by visitors and staff daily. This area should be spotless and sanitised to improve first impressions.
High touch areas may seem like small details, but they have massive implications. When you ignore high touch surfaces in your office, they contribute to absenteeism and a reduction in productivity. With a robust cleaning schedule in place, you can improve hygiene in your office by ensuring the above high touch surfaces are sanitised regularly throughout the day. If you need help improving hygiene in your office, contact the Sloane Cleaning Services team today.