What do you think lurks in your office sink?

Business cleaning can be a problem for business owners who either rent or own, and are responsible for their commercial property.  Being a commercial cleaning company, we take our responsibilities to those businesses seriously, as commercial spaces need to be clean on every level possible.

Your business is not likely to do well if your clients feel as though your premises (or even the people within it) are unhygienic.  But aside from that, you have to be overly cautious with regard to health and safety, so cleaning needs to be a major factor.  Slippery floors and tripping hazards just won’t cut it, and are just a couple of examples of how improper cleaning in a business environment could lead to big problems.

Employers have a duty of care to their employees, and one of those duties is to provide a hygienic and safe environment in which to work.  Studies have shown that there are much higher levels of staff sickness where hygiene is not satisfactory; germs thrive and multiply in dirty places which ultimately leads to the spread of infection and illness.

The Hygiene Council in the UK found that the hygiene of commercial office kitchens is somewhat lacking; swabs taken from office kitchens and canteens revealed that much less care is taken in these areas than at home.  Bacteria thrive best in damp and warm areas like sinks, and multiply much faster (levels double every 15 minutes) if left unchecked.  Dish cloths and sponges can be a hot bed for contamination, spreading bacteria and viruses over worktops and surfaces as well as all other things they come into contact with.  Washing up tends not to be as thorough too, with staff members rinsing rather than cleaning their plates, cups and mugs.  And if you can imagine that more than 50% of office taps contained dangerously high levels of bacteria compared to only 15% of flush handles in public toilets, you might rethink the cleaning routine!

The easiest way to defend yourself against these vastly multiplying bacteria, is to make sure that you, and all your staff practice thorough hand washing.  Regular disinfecting of frequently touched items, such as phones, keyboards, light switches, door handles, and even water cooler buttons will also help.

Many businesses just don’t have the time to take care of their own cleaning needs, so more and more are looking to hire a reputable cleaning company to take the stress and hassle out of cleaning duties.  By doing this, cleaning standards will be met, bacteria levels kept at bay and the business should run more smoothly, with fewer man hours being lost to sickness.

Sometimes it’s just better to stick to what you’re good at; at Brightr we have the whole commercial cleaning spectrum covered!