dirty, they are busy areas. The typical office desk can be a host to more than 10million types of bacteria which is 400 times more germs than what’s found on a toilet seat.
Did you know?
- your computer or laptop keyboard is 20,000 times dirtier than a toilet seat.
- More than 10 million bacteria are on a typical office desk — 400 times more bacteria than found on the average toilet seat
- Phones on average can hold up 25,127 per square inch
- Desk surface on average can hold up to 20,961 germs per square inch
- Mouse can hold on average 1676 germs per square inch
Whether it’s piles of washing up for those lazy colleagues, spilled coffee, dropped food or long forgotten lunches in the fridge, the workplace can be a pretty germ riddled place, (not to mention those ones who don’t wash their hands). High bacterial counts have been found on lift buttons, phones, computer keyboards, and mice.
Especially if you commute into the office in places like London and travel on the underground or buses, squeezed in rush hour, a breeding ground for germs and illness. Now I am not saying this alarm or scare anyone, but merry highlighting how important it is to be clean, hygienic, wash our hands, catch our sneeze, really is!.
So how do our dirty workplaces impact our health and work?
When we’re working in an unpleasant environment, research suggests it can impact our productivity and motivation. In 2015, more than 1,500 workers in 300 offices were asked whether their workplace was clean or not — and how this affected them.
In offices where employees thought cleanliness was lacking, nearly three-quarters (72%) said their surroundings made them less productive. Nearly half (46%) said they took longer lunch breaks and spent less time in the office, and a quarter said they took sick leave because they found their surroundings depressing.
In cleaner workplaces — those with regular cleaners, good kitchen facilities, and clean toilets — 65% said they looked forward to coming to the office and half said they worked harder as a result of having a better organised office.
Another study, published in 2012, analysed responses from more than 43,000 people from 351 office buildings. The results showed cleanliness was linked to job satisfaction.
So these numbers are great but what does this really mean?. Well it proves that the environment we work in can have a direct impact on our happiness, wellbeing and productivity so it is absolutely necessary to keep work environments clean and pleasant places. Maybe you do not currently have a cleaning contract but it might be time to think about speaking with one like Capitol Cleaning and Support Services to get some advice!