Beware the hidden enemy HEALTH Next time you have lunch in the office, take care to keep germs at bay.
While it can beassumed that workplace germs are most likely lurking in the office bathrooms, there is more to fear from the kitchen or lunch room. “Hot spots” for office germs, according
to a new US study, include places where workers prepare their lunches and eat, with sinks and the door handles of microwave ovens being the dirtiest surfaces touched daily. For the study, hygienists from Kimberly-
Clark Professional collected nearly 5000 individual swabs from office buildings housing more than 3000 employees in their Healthy Workplace Project. Represented was a cross-section of office “types” includ- ing manufacturing plants, law firms, insur- ance companies, healthcare companies and call centres. Carried out in consultation with Dr
Charles Gerba, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Arizona, the study found that most office surfaces found to have high levels of contamination include:
1 75% of break-room sink tap handles 1 48% of microwave oven door handles 1 27% of keyboards 1 26% of refrigerator door handles
1 23% of water fountain buttons 1 21% of vending machine buttons
And half of all computer mice and desk
phones were also found to have worrying levels of germs, suggesting a need for more awareness of the importance of hand and surface hygiene in the office. Exposure to bacteria in the office means that workers are potentially being exposed to illness.
Contamination can spread when workers
heat up lunch, make coffee or type on their keyboards.
“People are aware of the risk of germs
in the rest room, but areas like break rooms have not had the same degree of attention,” says Dr Gerba. “This study shows that contamination can be spread throughout the workplace when office workers heat up lunch, make coffee or simply type on their keyboards.” While contract cleaners can disinfect
office common areas at the end of each day, kitchens and personal work spaces can become instantly re-contaminated. E
Ring of confidence...
An American company has devised a charging device that simultaneously sanitises phones using UV-C light. PhoneSoap was inspired by the fact that one in six phones have been found to have fecal matter on them. The device comprises a box with UV lights for simultaneous cleansing of both the top and bottom of a phone. Three to five minutes of UV exposure is enough for complete sanitisation without the use of heat or liquid. INFO
www.phonesoapbox.com
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