In the workplace, hygiene is one of the essentials for establishing a healthy work environment. No one wants to work in a space that is filthy, dusty, smells unpleasant, and is likely to make them sick. As a result of employee interactions, the workplace is one of the most common places where people can get sick. You can see how your staff can spread bacteria and germs by looking at their behavior. When they shake hands, share food, or just grab one another’s pens, they are already touching germ-infested surfaces. As a result, enhancing workplace hygiene is critical for the overall health of your employees. Let’s take a look at some innovative ways to maintain your and others’ health.
1. Promote Hand Hygiene
First and foremost, to keep the workspace clean you need to promote proper hand hygiene:
- The first habit in hand hygiene is handwashing. Everyone can wash their hands, what’s essential is how effectively they do it. As you know, washing hands properly, by following each step provided by the World Health Organization, is crucial to prevent bacteria from spreading. With that in mind, if you have a large firm, provide at least two to three washrooms at your office, if a small firm — then one washroom will suffice. Custodians need to provide sufficient levels of hand soap and paper towels so that staff will wash their hands more frequently. Put some visual posters with proper handwashing steps to promote that habit.
- You need to ensure that there are hand sanitizers available at the office. Not always soap and water are at hands reach, as your staff may not have enough time to go wash their hands every minute. So, putting hand sanitizers can help them disinfect and sanitize their hands before doing something. The most efficient hand sanitizers include at least 60% alcohol and can protect against germs for several hours after application. Ensure that hand sanitizer is easily available near each employee’s desk and in any communal area.
You can opt for a selection of hygiene products in Sydney to stock your workplace with hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes, hand dryers, and more.
2. Clean Frequently Touched Areas
Provide antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizing gels to encourage employees to clean their desk areas frequently. Ensure that community rooms such as a shared kitchen and washroom facilities are cleaned regularly and thoroughly. Provide antibacterial and disinfecting wipes to clean the frequently-touched surfaces with them not to spread germs.
You can encourage your employees to clean their desk area, including mouse, keyboard, phones with wipes, and sanitizers. And don’t share tea towels because these are home to bacteria. Imagine how many people dry their hands with these towels to assess the number of germs. Tissue papers are good alternatives to them. Also, to avoid cross-contamination, you need to clean the soap dispensers and taps frequently and if you have enough budget, it’s better to consider touch-free handwashing faucets and automated soap dispensers.
3. Consider Air Hygiene
It’s critical to keep staff and visitors safe from airborne diseases. Keeping doors open allows air to circulate and prevents germs from spreading through the door handles. If possible, keep windows and external doors open to let fresh air enter the workspace and remove the airborne particles. The transmission of dangerous viruses and bacteria is most likely to occur in indoor air. Indoor ventilation is important for diluting pollutants. But, mechanical air purification equipment is frequently required to clean the air thoroughly. Examine internal ventilation to see if any additional solutions are needed to improve airflow.
4. Bring Touch-free Bins
One of the frequently touched objects in the office is a trash bin. By distributing touch-free bins across the workplace, you can prevent germs from spreading. These containers should be emptied regularly by a professional cleaning service.
5. Ensure Regular Cleaning and Employee Education
Cleaning services for businesses are widespread, and you’ll most certainly locate one near you. It’s essential to opt for commercial cleaning service providers. You can keep your desk area tidy and clean, but you need professionals who can clean and disinfect the entire workspace. You need to have a regular cleaning plan for disinfecting all facilities. Specialist professionals are well-trained and equipped, with a wealth of experience in offering high-quality disinfection services. This can help to maintain the overall health of you and your employees. Regular cleaning helps to prevent the transmission of infections and keep the professionalism of your company.
And don’t forget that besides the regular cleaning provided by professionals, you need to educate your employees as well by organizing regular meetings to discuss the importance of hygiene and employee duties to keep the workspace clean. Follow these extra tips:
- Provide a documented hygiene policy to your employees. Help them know what you expect from them and how you value the hygiene of the working environment.
- Promote proper hand hygiene through posters and signs.
- Encourage to close the toilet lid when flushing it because germs can readily travel through the air.
- Ensure they clean their desk areas regularly and that waste is disposed of in the appropriate bins.
This experienced dentist in Pasadena also adds that it never hurts to provide your employees with free annual health checkups. Doing so should not only help in advocating hygiene but it will also ensure your employees’ health is in good condition.
These were some of the ways you can apply to keep your working space clean and hygienic. Double-check them once you decide to make a change. Stay healthy!