Office Washroom Hygiene

A study has found that we are likely to spend around forty-one hours a year in the office washroom facilities! That’s more than the average working week spent in the toilets every year rather than being at our desk. The findings, which were taken from a sample of over 6000 office workers into their hygiene habits, also found that believe it or not, men are more likely to spend longer in the washroom than women. Now who would have thought that!

It was also revealed that nearly 10% of office workers use their mobile phone for searching the web and using social media when on the toilet and 4.6% admitted to studying and reading through work documents.

But the most worrying fact we found was that over a quarter of UK employees openly admitted to not washing their hands every time they visited the office washroom facilities, meaning they could be passing on germs every time they shake hands with a client or colleague or touch office equipment, door handles or work surfaces.

After reading this, we think it’s time for people to clean up their act (see what we did there) and start applying the recommended practices to help stop the spread of germs and viruses within their office environment.

Here are a few helpful hints and tips to office washroom hygiene to help you stop the spread of nasty bugs and viruses in your workplace this winter.

Step 1: Hand Wash Signs

Place signs in washrooms asking people to ‘wash their hands’. It may sound obvious, but studies show that people are more likely to wash their hands if they see a sign telling them to.

Step 2: Clean Hands

Ensure there are plenty of hand wash stations at the hand washing areas and the hand wash dispensers are checked and replenished on a regular basis.

Step 3: Keeping clean

Clean surroundings generally encourage people to think about their own hygiene so ensure the washroom facilities are kept spotlessly clean at all times.

Step 4: Hygiene Maintenance

Creating a washroom inspection plan with your office cleaning company in Cambridge can help to eliminate or prevent hygiene threats from getting out of control.

Step 5: Plenty of Bins

Ensure there are enough bins in your office stopping people from walking across the office to dispose of dirty tissues or other infected items.

Step 6: Sanitise

Place sanitising dispensers in close proximity to shared office equipment such as printers, photocopiers and faxes.

Step 7: Clean Expectations

Consult staff members and ask if they feel the washroom facilities are up to their expected standard or could more be done to keep up levels of hygiene.

Over 40% of UK office workers rated their office washrooms as only average or below average, even though most spend a significant amount of time in there every year and 39% believe that with better office hygiene their job satisfaction would be greatly improved.

Looking at it from an employers’ point of view, there is a lot to be gained from keeping high levels of office and washroom hygiene. The issues and problems raised can very easily be addressed either by following our simple guidelines or ensuring your commercial cleaning contractor understands how to implement a good office and washroom hygiene management plan.

To talk to us further about how we could help you with your office and washroom cleaning and hygiene management please either;

• Call our office on 01223 502664
• Drop us an email at info@spotlesscambridge.com
• Visit our website at www.spotlesscambridge.com

Have a great day,

Magda