Keeping a clean work environment is essential in limiting the spread of germs. Unfortunately, not all workers practice clean habits. Most companies do not offer workplace hygiene education, which often creates additional problems. Understanding how to reduce common unclean workplace habits is critical in creating a much safer and clean environment for each worker.
At Spotless Janitorial Services, we specialize in exceptional office cleaning in Milton, Brampton, and Mississauga. We’ll help you maintain a clean and hygienic working environment, year-round. No matter the size of your business, or the cleaning challenges you face, we can handle it! We began as a one-man operation in 1983, and since then, we’ve grown to become trusted cleaning partners across the area. Our expertise results in offices you can be proud of – and we want to help you keep your own office clean, even when we aren’t around.
Interested in learning more? Here are a few of the most common unclean workplace habits, and what you can do to help discourage them.
I. At Workers’ Desks
1. Sneezing Without Using a Tissue
One of the most common health concerns at work is an employee sneezing without using a tissue. This doesn’t simply spread germs around their desk. When someone sneezes, the liquid particles produced can spread up to 8 meters away, meaning they’re potentially spreading their germs to anyone in the area.
Always keeping tissues near each desk is a great way to limit this health concern. Depending on the size of your office, you may want to simply keep a stockpile of tissue boxes in the breakroom or a similar common area, while encouraging workers to always have a box nearby. This is a small expense, compared to how much productivity you’d lose to a flu outbreak.
2. Cluttered Junk at Desks
Not all employees are organized, as a cluttered desk is a common occurrence throughout the workplace. However, leftover food items and other junk are never pleasant and should always be immediately removed to avoid causing additional health concerns. In particular, leftover food should never be allowed to stay on a worker’s desk, or in their nearby trash can. It can rot, potentially bringing mold into the office, as well as attracting a variety of pests that feed on rotting food. Not to mention the smell!
For that matter…
3. Eating at Desks
In general, it’s bad sanitary practice to have your workers frequently eating at their desks. It’s virtually guaranteed that at least a small amount of food will be left behind on the desk, or the ground nearby. Even crumbs too small for us to notice can attract ants and other pests, and the problem is worse in carpeted offices, where crumbs can get lost in the carpet.
While the occasional “working lunch” is probably unavoidable, this is not something that should be encouraged. Your workers should have an opportunity to eat in a break room, or somewhere else intended for food consumption. If they’re constantly eating at their desks, it’s going to create a big mess.
4. Periodic Steam Cleaning
On the topic of carpets, it’s vital to have them steam-cleaned from time to time. Professional carpet cleaning services in Milton can penetrate deeply into the carpet material, more than vacuuming alone can achieve. This is vital because of how easy it is for food bits, dirt, grime, and other unsanitary materials to be ground into the carpet. Without steam cleaning, these could potentially build up for years and become a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, or worse.
5. Not Emptying Trash Bins
Taking the time to empty trash bins is always important. Emptying trash bins every few days is always a good idea to avoid unpleasant smells while also helping you maintain a much cleaner work environment for everyone.
This is true for both the small trash cans at workers’ desks, as well as the larger trash bins. You may prefer to leave the large trash bins for your Milton office cleaning service to handle, but your workers should, at least, be emptying their personal trash cans frequently.
II. Around the Office
1. Failure to Wash Hands After Using the Bathroom
Another common complaint is the failure of an employee to wash their hands after using the bathroom. This is an all-too-common issue that impacts everyone. Posting friendly reminders to always wash your hands after using the bathroom is one way to combat this problem.
At the same time, you should ensure there is always a full stock of soap, paper towels, and other cleaning necessities in your bathroom. A worker can’t properly wash their hands if there isn’t soap or alcohol disinfectant available! These items are inexpensive and should always be made available.
2. Improper Handling of Sanitary Items
It can be uncomfortable discussing items such as tampons and sanitary pads, but this is an issue we’ve seen in too many office bathrooms. In an ideal world, you should have a biohazard bin in your women’s restrooms specifically for these items, since anything with blood on it is inherently dangerous. If this is impractical, at the least, they should always be put in a waste bin.
Much as with handwashing, having signs up in the women’s restroom reminding them to properly dispose of their sanitary items will help. Go with pictograms rather than text; it’s less awkward.
3. Leaving Dirty Dishes Around the Communal Area
Choosing to leave dirty dishes around the communal area can create unpleasant smells and attract insects. Ensuring that each employee keeps the communal area clean is essential to maintaining a healthy workplace. Always practicing clean habits is a great way to keep an office clean and much neater.
There are numerous ways to accomplish this. Signs are a big help, put up around the room’s sink. Having an employee designated to remind people to wash their dishes is also useful. If you’re lucky, one employee may be clean-minded enough to police the breakroom or lunchroom themselves. If not, this is a chore that could be put on rotation, with the duty changing weekly.
Either way, dirty dishes should not be left out, even if you have daily janitorial services. Dirty dishes can start attracting flies and other pests in just a couple of hours if they’re left unattended.
4. Never Cleaning Out Breakroom Refrigerators/Freezers
Honestly, when was the last time you cleaned out your refrigerator? It’s so easy to overlook in a busy office. Unfortunately, over time, a dirty fridge can become a health hazard – especially if there’s food left in it so long that the food starts to rot. It’s also easy for minor spills to go uncleaned, creating a layer of filth on the bottom of shelves or the fridge itself.
If things get too bad, your Milton office cleaning service can do a full deep clean of the fridge, but it’s better to stay on top of this one. Encourage your employees to label their refrigerated foods with the date they were put in the fridge, and anything older than a week should be thrown away unless there’s a very good reason to keep it. Likewise, wiping down all the flat surfaces around once a week will do a lot to prevent the fridge from becoming too gross.
5. Dirty HVAC Systems
Finally, think about your HVAC system. Are you frequently cleaning its air filter? How long has it been since your last duct cleaning? If your HVAC system has a lot of dirt, dust, and pollen floating around, it’s just going to blow all that grime around the office whenever it kicks in.
Air filters should be cleaned every 1-2 months, and ducts should be cleaned around once a year. This can greatly improve your air quality and reduce dust in the office.
Spotless Janitorial Services Keeps Milton Offices Clean!
Understanding how to avoid these unclean workplace habits is essential in creating a much safer and healthier environment for all of your employees. Focusing on a clean workplace is a great way to reduce the number of sick days and save your company a lot of money in the long term. Spotless Janitorial Services specializes in providing commercial cleaning services for a wide range of clients in Ontario, Canada. We have over 30 years of experience in providing top-quality services. Give us a call to learn more about our commercial cleaning services!
