When it comes to cleanliness, health and sanitation, just because your office looks clean doesn’t mean it is clean. Failure to follow industry best practices could leave your office with hidden grime, mould and damp, and leave dangerous microbes in the office environment.
The Three Pillars of Cleaning
So, what does a “clean” office environment actually mean? Cleanliness goes beyond just a clean outward appearance. A genuinely clean environment will be “clean” in three ways.
- Sterile- A sterile environment is completely free from germs and bacterial contamination. Think of a surgeon’s operating theatre where every surface, piece of equipment and item of clothing has been sterilized. This level of cleanliness is not required for commercial cleaning, where we can assume that most occupants are not at heightened risk of infection or disease.
- Disinfected- A disinfected environment is an environment in which dangerous pathogens that can cause diseases in humans have been removed. This is something that office cleaning practices should aim to achieve.
- Sanitary- A sanitary environment is an environment in which most contamination has been removed, however, there is still some risk of disease. Generally, a sanitary environment means employee health is adequately protected.
What Should Your Office Cleaning Regimen Strive For?
A comprehensive office cleaning plan will strive to achieve a disinfected level of cleanliness in which all pathogens dangerous to humans have been removed. A sterile environment is impractical and unnecessary for a commercial space. Simultaneously, a sanitary space should be the bare minimum.
The 4 Best Practices to Achieve the Necessary Level of Cleanliness
- Use environmentally friendly products wherever possible.
Avoiding toxic chemicals in the cleaning process whenever possible reduces the number of harmful toxins in the facility and makes for a healthier, more pleasant working environment. Big Clean commercial cleaning products have a wide selection of cleaning products for use in your office workspace.
- Don’t reuse the same cloth to clean multiple areas.
The purpose of cleaning is to eliminate germs and pathogens. Using the same cloth, therefore, becomes counterproductive. You effectively end up moving germs from one surface to another, never really eliminating them. Not changing cloths regularly will leave bacteria and germs on surfaces and could become detrimental to employees’ health and safety in the workplace.
- Don’t use a mop.
Once upon a time, every janitor and office cleaner used a mop as the preferred method of cleaning commercial floors. However, modern science has allowed us to refine our cleaning practices and update our best practices. Use a floor cleaning machine and germicide to ensure floors are adequately disinfected and don’t merely appear clean.
- Stay proactive.
Cleaning is not something that only happens at the end of each day. If there is a spillage, there should be janitors or cleaners ready to quickly block the area off and clean the area. Not only will this protect employees from slips and falls, it will also make the janitor’s life far simpler as nobody will have walked through the spill and spread it to other areas on their shoes.
Follow these best practices to ensure your office doesn’t just look clean but is disinfected and free from harmful disease-causing pathogens.
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