Tips For Cleaning Your Home Or Commercial Office
When working in a commercial office environment or at home, it’s crucial to remember the importance of cleaning, especially as the world is dealing with a pandemic. Even though we do our best to stay healthy, many times we let our guard down at the office or workplace. The truth, however, is that many commercial offices and even homes can have incredibly high levels of bacteria and viruses in a number of areas.
At Southern Coast Janitorial, we understand that keeping your office environment as clean as possible is important to you. So we’ve come up with a few tips to help you with cleaning and sanitizing your commercial office environment.
Commercial Office Cleaning Tips
When it comes to offices, it only takes one unclean surface to compromise and affect the health of your workers. Because there are many common things that workers come into contact with, these are important areas to keep clean in your office.
Key Areas For Commercial Office Cleaning
Door Handles & Light Switches
According to the CDC, door handles and other “high touch surfaces” pose a high risk and should have a cleaning at least once a day. Some of the most commonly touched surfaces in the commercial office are door handles and light switches. Although you should focus on cleaning both areas, door handles are much more likely to host bacteria and viruses. This is due to far more people having physical contact with door handles than light switches.
Regardless, cleaning both areas should be done frequently and is as simple as wiping them off with soapy water or a disinfectant. Remember that germs might still be present even if something looks clean.
Common Areas & Equipment
Another section in many commercial offices that should have regular cleaning is around the common areas. Common office equipment such as water coolers, copiers and printers are prime bacterial breeding grounds. It’s quite common for people to become infected if they touch their eyes, mouth, or nose after using shared items in the break room. Coffee pots and the sink faucet and handles are some examples of surfaces where germs often can grow.
One way to minimize the risk of spreading viruses or bacteria is by using disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. By having and using these items together, you can help greatly reduce the spread and chance of illness in the office. Also by cleaning up for food crumbs and messes you reduce the risk of bacteria.
Your Personal Office Desk
One of the areas in a commercial office that has the highest concentration of germs and bacteria is your desk. Regardless of your office setting, home, or commercial, your desk is not as clean as you might think. The fact is that you do a lot more than just sitting when you are at your desk. You eat, sip, drip, sneeze, cough, smudge, drop, touch, and just about everything else at your desk as well. It’s no wonder that researchers find commercial offices can have several hundred times more germs than a toilet seat.
One thing that helps is to remember to periodically clean and disinfect your keyboard and mouse, as they both tend to have high microbial counts. It’s also great practice to frequently dust your desk, computer, as well as your computer fan area. By keeping your desk area cleaner, you’ll not only stay healthier but you’ll also increase the life of your equipment.
Office Cleaning Filters & HVAC Systems
In commercial offices, a lot of times the HVAC and ventilation systems are overlooked when it’s time to clean. However, these two areas are vitally important in helping to keeping a germ-free office. Although unclean surfaces are often blamed for the spread of germs, a large number of germs are airborne as well. When someone who is ill coughs or sneezes, they will release tiny droplets into the air. In offices with HVAC systems, germs can then travel thru these systems, potentially affecting even more people.
One of the best ways to reduce airborne viruses from spreading throughout the workplace is by regular replacement of filters. Changing dirty filters in the ventilation and HVAC system will help to improve the overall air quality in the office. In addition, to providing better airflow and circulation, you’ll also be removing more airborne dust, bacteria, and viruses from your office.
Cleaning v.s. Sanitizing Your Commercial Office
Although many people regard, “cleaning’ and “sanitizing” to mean the same thing, there is actually a difference. And while both methods are essential to keeping your office clean, there’s a time and place for each method to be employed.
When To Clean
Cleaning, usually involves soap or a detergent agent which is used to remove or weaken virus cells and bacteria. Typically when cleaning a commercial office, this is all that’s usually required to adequately remove dirt, dust, and bacteria. As long as there are no illnesses cleaning once a day is usually enough to keep the facility safe. Although cleaning more than once a day isn’t required, it’s good practice and there’s no harm to cleaning more often.
When To Sanitize
With sanitization, an agent is used to effectively kill the virus or bacteria cells. After cleaning an area, you may find that you want to further disinfect the equipment or area. Or perhaps you’re aware of an illness in the workplace, this is when you further sanitize the equipment or area. Soap and water may weaken some viruses, however by sanitizing the area you’ll be able to kill the remaining virus or bacteria cells. Good cleaning will remove germs, however, sanitization will kill the germs and greatly reduce the spread of illness.
It’s important for commercial offices to have a safe and clean work environment for the staff and workers. One of the easiest ways to keep your office clean is by using a dedicated and respected cleaning service. At Southern Coast Janitorial, we strive to provide quality cleaning services for your home, or commercial office. Regardless if you need a good deep cleaning or sanitizing for your office, Southern Coast janitorial is here for your cleaning needs.
