Nowadays, people are taking their cleaning a lot more seriously. With the risk of COVID-19 not far from our memory, office managers are taking extra care to clean and sanitize surfaces that would have previously been left untouched. Germs can live on surfaces for days at a time and make you sick not only with illnesses such as COVID-19, but with the cold, a flu, or worse. Due to this, taking the extra time for precautionary cleaning of your office is one of the best things that you can do for the health of your employees, keeping them happy and keeping attendance rates high.

Here is a list of five places within the office that experience the largest rates of germs: 

1. The office phone. 

When you’re talking on the phone, germs from your hands AND your mouth end up on it. Talk about a double whammy! According to research from University of Arizona, this causes a germ density of 25,000 germs per square inch. Due to this, you should clean your office phone at least once a day. You can clean it by wiping down the keypad and receiver with a sanitizing wipe.

2. Keyboard and mouse.

The most often used component of any office worker’s day is the keyboard and mouse of the computer that they get their work done on. Germs can also live in the cracks and crevices between the keys on the keyboard, or between the buttons on a mouse. It’s imperative that these surfaces be cleaned regularly if you want a germ-free environment to thrive in. You must be careful when washing these tools, however, as they are electronic and it could cause a malfunction in the equipment if they get wet. Start with a cloth and a spray sanitizer, but spray the cloth directly, not the equipment. Use the cloth to wipe down your keyboard and mouse daily.

3. Copier or fax machine.

With so many different people using this machine throughout the day, it’s no wonder that germs build up and collect on the surfaces and buttons. And when was the last time you saw someone clean the copier? You can be the office hero by pledging yourself to clean this machine once a week. To clean it, take a sanitizing cloth or spray a rag with sanitizing spray and wipe down the buttons, handle, and the exterior of the paper tray. 

4. Water cooler.

People are touching the water cooler all day long. They touch the handles for the temperature, but in refilling their water bottles, many even touch the spout of the water cooler directly. Any place where people gather to talk is also at risk of collecting germs from the various aspirations and secretions that come from talking and laughing. You can clean the spout by soaking it in a mild bleach solution once a week, and you can clean the temperature knobs with a sanitizing cloth or spray applied daily.

5. Shared pens.

You might not think much about it, but having pens that everyone can use is a great way to spread the germs that cause illness. As each person touches the pen, they leave behind the germs that they have collected on their hands throughout the day. You can stop the spread of germs by creating two different containers for pens: clean and dirty. At the end of the availability of clean pens, take sanitizing wipes and wipe down each of the dirty pens, cleaning them up and creating a germ-free surface for new users.

Now that you know the five germiest surfaces in the office, it’s time to implement a regular schedule of cleaning. If having your employees clean their desks and office appliances regularly doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, it might be time to hire a janitorial crew to come in and do the cleaning for you. Altius Janitorial will not only keep your surfaces wiped, but your trashes emptied, your floors cleaned, and more. With day porters and nighttime crews available, we can serve all your needs on a budget that works for you. Find out more at https://www.altiusclean.com or call us today at (208) 841-5531.