How clean is your office? A guide to keeping it clean

Keeping the office clean is important even in the best of times, and COVID-19 has made it all the more essential to ensure your business keeps running.

It is imperative to have a good cleaning strategy for your office. The workplace should be hygienically clean, not just for the sake of your business but for the health and safety of your employees, customers and visitors.

Posted on May 16, 2022

Studies in cleanliness

Studies have found that germs can spread from a person's hand to half of the office surfaces in just four hours. This includes potentially harmful bacteria and viruses which can spread rampantly, resulting in staff absences from work and reduced productivity.

Making sure your office adheres to basic hygiene standards helps to stop the spread of disease-causing bacteria and viruses that can quickly spread in shared spaces like open-plan offices, kitchens and washrooms.

Did you know the typical office desk is home to over 10 million bacteria? That's 400 times more than a toilet seat.

How to keep your office clean

The frequency of cleaning and disinfecting your office requires depends on many factors. The number of staff and visitors, the size of your office, and what types of surfaces and furnishings you have, just to name a few.

Here are a few things to consider when you're planning your office cleaning schedule.

Know your touch zone hotspots

High touch areas are surfaces that people frequently touch with their hands but often get overlooked in the daily office cleaning. These hotspots can become easily contaminated with microorganisms, which transfer onto the next person's hands. In the office, this includes door handles, lift buttons, light switches, desks, keyboards, phones, kitchen appliances and shared equipment.

To control the spread of disease carrying bacteria and viruses, touch zone hotspots should be wiped down twice a day with an appropriate disinfectant and sanitiser. High touch zones should also be cleaned when there is a shift change.

Keeping shared areas sanitised

Shared areas in the office like kitchens, break rooms, printers, and water coolers should be kept clean throughout the day. At Zippy, we recommend using Nanocyn, a chemical-free solution for rapid and effective infection control. It is dispensed as a fine mist, disinfecting the airspace and surfaces, leaving a thoroughly disinfected, sanitised and chemical-free environment. Nanocyn also kills Covid-19 in 15 seconds and is registered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (the medicine and therapeutic regulatory agency of the Australian Government).

The toilets can never be too clean

It is simply not enough for your office washrooms to just look clean. It is essential for the shared toilets to be thoroughly disinfected for everyone's health and well-being. Bathrooms provide the perfect environment for germs and bacteria to breed and can easily be transmitted.

Hotspots include toilet seats, flush buttons, door latches and handles, soap dispenser levers, taps, paper towel dispensers, and the list goes on. Your office cleaning schedule should include ensuring all these hotspots are correctly disinfected and sanitised every day. Of course, how frequently this happens will depend on how many people use the washroom, but one thing is for sure - the bathrooms can never be too clean.

Clean the floors

Keeping your office floors clean and free of hazards is essential for ensuring the health and safety of your staff and visitors. Carpets should be vacuumed, and hard floors mopped at least daily.

You should have your floors deep cleaned from time to time to remove the build-up of dirt and grime and enhance their longevity.

Take the trash out

Managing your office waste correctly will reduce funky smells in the kitchen, prevent bacteria infestations and even improve your environmental footprint. Our waste management services for offices include managing general waste, comprehensive recycling programs, food and garden waste, electronic waste, and confidential shredding.

Waste management is an opportunity for us to work towards a cleaner, greener future. We are proud to help our clients make a positive change for the environment.

Let Zippy take care of your office cleaning and hygiene

Hundreds of Australian businesses trust Zippy to improve their workplace safety, hygiene, and create a great first impression.

Our professional commercial cleaning team has the knowledge, expertise and all the right tools to ensure your office is hygienically cleaned every time.

Give your employees the gift of a clean office, contact Zippy today.