Cold and flu season means inconvenience for offices across Miami-Dade. A combination of ineffective office cleaning and poor hand hygiene can create a crisis in any workplace.
Employees attend the office even when they are sick and thus germs spread in the office; sickness usually feels like it is unavoidable. In addition, children bring germs home from school, spreading sickness to the complete family, including the adults who then take the germs to office with them.
It is estimated that unplanned absences due to illness causes more than 50% decrease in productivity. You must ask yourself if this much loss is worth saving a few dollars with poor commercial cleaning.
Cleaning, disinfecting, sanitizing
Generally people think that if someone is cleaning their office regularly, then they are able to keep germs at bay. Sadly, it is not true. Let’s understand how cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting are different to one another.
Cleaning: In this process mixture of water and detergent is used to remove dirt, impurities and germs from the surfaces and objects in your facility. Note that it will only remove germs, but it won’t kill them. Cleaning might be enough for some of the building, but in cold and flu season and germiest places you will need more.
Sanitizing: according to the EPA’s Official Detergent Sanitizer Test, sanitization is the process of destroying 99.999% of bacteria in 30 seconds. Sanitizing should be used in areas or sections that come into contact with food, to ensure all the surfaces are germ-free.
Disinfecting: Disinfecting is when chemicals are used to kill germs on surfaces and objects. However, only disinfecting is not guaranteed to remove dirt and debris from surfaces, though it will decrease the risk of spreading infection in your workplace.
- Proactivity is important
The most effective way to prevent is to hire a proactive commercial cleaning company. They take required measures to decrease the spread of germs, and assist keep your employees healthy, which will surely affect your bottom line.
In addition, hand sanitizer should be kept in strategic places, like the break room, office lobby and bathrooms. Facial tissues should be always accessible so that anyone in need can easily find it.
- Hot spot office cleaning
It is important to create a cleaning plan that includes disinfecting all surfaces, especially the so-called “hot spots”. These places are often touched by people, and usually include door knobs, bathroom fixtures, phones, light switches, desktops, and equipment like scanner, printer, calculator etc. If there is kitchen or break room in your office, make sure they are regularly and thoroughly cleaned. They should be disinfected too, along with all the amenities like refrigerator, microwave, tables and chairs.
A carefully cleaned workplace is a happy workplace, sick days are decreased and your employees more productive. For commercial cleaning services in Miami-Dade, Broward County, Palm Beach and surrounding areas, feel free to contact Pro Facility Services.
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