Importance Of Cleaning High-Touch Surfaces
Flu season is quickly approaching, so it’s time to discuss disinfecting high-touch surfaces in your workplace! Whether you work in a medical clinic, school, warehouse, or an office building, it is important to maintain a clean work environment to help protect the health of your employees and customers in high-traffic communal spaces.
What Are High-Touch Surfaces?
High-touch surfaces are touch-points and places that experience the most contact through-out your workday. These surfaces are handled by dozens of people every day and have the potential to have bacteria and viruses linger. The more people that touch a surface, the higher the risk is of spreading and sharing germs. Some examples of high-touch surfaces in your workplace include:
- Tables, counters, desks, coffee stations, water coolers, water fountains, vending machines, benches, and chairs
- Doorknobs, handles, elevator buttons, stair rails, light switches, and banisters
- Keyboards, phones, copy machines, printers, remote controls, tablets, and touch screens
- Refrigerator handles, microwaves, and countertops
- Surfaces in restroom facilities such as toilets, flush handles, hand dryers, paper towel dispensers, faucets, toilet paper dispensers and sinks
What Can You Do to Help Stop the Spread of Germs This Flu Season?
You can make sure to be cleaning and disinfecting all high-touch areas in your office regularly. This means communicating with your cleaning company the areas in your workplace that are high priority to be cleaned and/or disinfected every shift, and other surfaces that will be treated periodically as well. Daily tasks that can be done include disinfecting, wipe downs, taking out the trash, vacuuming, mopping, and so on. Communication is key when it comes to the number of days and hours you are wanting a cleaning crew to come to your facility. We understand that the needs of your business can change over time, so be sure to communicate if you need to up your hours with your cleaning company!
Creating a Cleaning Routine
We suggest having your employees disinfect surfaces in their personal work areas at least daily if not after every use. This is especially important if an employee is sent home sick, or someone has come down with Covid-19 and has visited the office in the last 24 hours. You will want to make sure that there are cleaning supplies and gloves accessible to your employees, so they are able to wipe down and disinfect personal and communal surfaces (such as the kitchen area) daily. Employees should always follow the directions on the label of the cleaning supplies to ensure safe and effective use of the product while disinfecting. It can also be helpful to have hand sanitizer stations set up near entrance ways, front counters, kitchen areas and elevators. This will encourage employees to help stop the spread of bacteria and germs before interacting with high-touch surfaces.
By regularly cleaning and disinfecting your high-touch areas in your office, you can help reduce the risk of a flu outbreak this flu season and help keep your employees healthy and happy in their work environment!