9 Tips to Keep Your Office Clean Through Flu Season
If someone gets affected by the flu in your office, then it can very quickly spread to other employees. This in turn, will reduce the productivity of your workforce. There are many locations in your office that harbor the flu virus, and help in spreading the virus among other employees working in an office.
The solution lies in getting the flu vaccine and also in making sure that your office workspace remains clean, and there is no risk of infection being spread by common surfaces in your office.
Our aim here will be to analyze some of the common things you can do to stop the spread of the flu virus in your office.
Useful Tips to Stop the Spread of the Flu Virus in Offices
By following the undermentioned tips, you will be able to keep the office clean throughout flu season.
Tip #1: Look into Hand Hygiene
One of the simplest things you can do during flu season is to properly wash your hands. If you can wash your hands with warm water and soap, then it will help you in preventing the spread of bacteria and germs.
A few of the things you can do, is use automatic soap dispensers, surface disinfectants, and hand sanitizers to reduce the risk of contamination.
Tip #2: Wipe Off Common Surfaces
In office, common surfaces such as coffee pots, desks, and doorknobs, help in spreading flu. Whenever you touch these surfaces, you pick up almost thirty to fifty percent of viruses that are present on them.
It may sound alarming to you, but it is a fact that on an average, a keyboard of your office computer harbors about 7,600 microbes. In addition, viruses are able to survive for about twenty-four hours over office desks.
Thus, all common surfaces like vending machines, stair railings, elevator buttons, doorknobs, scanners, etc. should be disinfected to stop re-infection.
Thus, it will advisable to wipe off these common surfaces using a disinfectant, specifically made for wall cleaning and window cleaning in Montreal to reduce the spread of viruses in your office.
Tip #3: Stay at Home
Companies should encourage their employees to remain at home if they fall sick. This way, it will become possible to reduce the risk of transmission of the disease to other employees in the office.
By offering employees the option to work from home, they will be able to maintain their productivity, and you will minimize the risk that the flu virus will spread throughout your office.
Tip #4: Implement Workshops on a Balanced Diet
A healthy diet consisting of vegetables and fruits can provide good protection from viruses. If a company organizes workshops on balanced diets, then it can encourage employees to start eating healthy.
By providing the knowledge about things to eat that can help you fight the flu, you will be better protected during flu season. Some of these foods include:
- Chicken soup
- Kiwi
- Ginger
- Citrus fruits
- Garlic
- Beef
- Broccoli
Tip #5: Arrange Sporting Events
If employees remain active, then it can help them properly fight diseases. If corporate sporting events are organized, then they help in the creation of active lifestyles for employees, and their overall health will improve. A few of the activities, which can be part of these sporting events, include cycling, hiking, etc.
Apart from helping to improve the health of your employees, it will also be engaging and fun for your employees.
Tip #6: Utilize Essential Oils
Apart from stripping and waxing floors in Montreal, essential oils are known for their medicinal effects, and prove to be effective against the flu.
This is due to the fact that essential oils with their anti-viral properties help in eliminating virus particles that are aerosolized in air. Moreover, these oils help in creating the right atmosphere in your office.
Tip #7: Clean Communal Areas
In the office environment, there are communal areas, which tend to accumulate germs and viruses. Such places include the communal kitchen and the break room. Many of us wash our hands after going to the washroom, but hardly do the same after using the coffee machine or the microwave.
Due to this reason viruses and germs easily survive in food preparation areas. When employees visit these locations, the flu virus spreads to other locations of your office.
Thus, it is better to store disinfectant wipes at handy locations, so that these areas can be regularly wiped to stop the spread of the flu virus.
Tip #8: Take Precautions
If you are suffering from the flu, but still have to go to the office, then you will have to take certain precautions to prevent spreading of the flu.
These precautions would include covering your mouth while sneezing or coughing, as well as frequently washing your hands so that the spread of germs can be prevented. You can also advise your co-workers to do the same, if they are also suffering from the flu.
Tip #9: Get in Touch with a Cleaning Service Provider
By appointing a cleaning service provider, you will have the assurance that all necessary steps will be taken to clean common surfaces that harbor the virus. These service providers also have the right cleaning equipment and methods to ensure that all viruses and germs are effectively killed.
As we can see, during flu season, it is very easy to get infected by the flu virus, especially so in an office environment. This is due to the fact that there are many communal areas in an office that harbor viruses and germs.
If you are able to clean these surfaces on regular basis, improve your health by eating healthy foods and keeping your body active, take leave when you are infected by the flu virus, and cover your mouth while sneezing or coughing, then it will reduce the spread of the flu virus during flu season.
By taking these steps, you will be able to improve the productivity of your employees and reduce amount of leave your employees have to take.