HEALTHY WORKPLACES From targeting often overlooked germ hotspots like computer keyboards to encouraging


hand hygiene among staff and visitors, Jangro Operations Director Joanne Gilliard highlights simple measures that promote healthier workplaces.


Every year on 5th May, the World Health Organisation raises awareness about hand hygiene in its annual Save Lives Clean Your Hands campaign. The focus is on healthcare, with a call to action to help fight the spread of antibiotic resistance. The message should be spread far and wide though, and certainly into offices and other public spaces with a high volume of people in close proximity, such as waiting areas, receptions and kitchens.


Good hand hygiene is of course second nature to healthcare workers around the world, but it is crucial that this message is heard by everyone to be effective. The majority of infections can be carried and transmitted by the hands – at any one time a thriving community of well over 300,000 species of bacteria dwell on each palm.


In fact, one of the simplest ways of supporting a healthy workforce is by ensuring access to a range of hand hygiene facilities. Office washrooms should offer a variety of soap and sanitiser dispensing equipment, so that there is something to suit the personal preferences of every worker and visitor.


Some people prefer to use touch-free dispensers, for instance, while others will always use paper towels over hand dryers, or prefer to use gel rather than foam soap. And it is not limited to the washroom – hand sanitiser dispensers and tissues should be stationed around an office, near entrances and coffee stations, and on desk banks for instance, to encourage those working there to make hand hygiene part of their daily routine.


REGULAR CLEANING


SCHEDULES Of course, raising the profile of hand hygiene in a workplace is just one part of a complete plan to improve the health and wellbeing of workers and visitors. Workplaces must also be kept clean and hygienic with regular, thorough cleaning schedules that use the most appropriate products. The


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highest standards of cleanliness must also be maintained in key facilities such as the washroom and kitchen areas, with appropriate products used for specific tasks like toilet and drain cleaning, degreasing in kitchens, and surface hygiene.


This isn’t just for aesthetic reasons, although it is undeniable that clean and tidy entrance halls or washrooms give off a far better impression of a company than the dirty, unhygienic facilities. In fact, it is well-known that promoting hygiene and appropriate cleaning in the workplace can improve the health of a workforce and reduce absenteeism.


Cleaning should not just target obvious areas like large surfaces and flooring. Key germ hot spots such as office phones, door handles and kettles


“Computer


keyboards can host up to 7,500 different bacteria.”


must be regularly and hygienically cleaned – computer keyboards can host up to 7,500 different bacteria, for instance, while many people wouldn’t think to clean their mouse.


SICKNESS ABSENCE As well as promoting hand hygiene and general cleanliness, behavioural changes such as asking staff not to eat at their desks, and encouraging lunchtime activities such as an office walk around the block, can also promote a culture of health and hygiene awareness. At the same time, some staff will also come into an office when they are not well enough to do so, due to pressure not to take a sick day.


It’s crucial to communicate that preventing infection from spreading around an office is more important than a single member of staff putting extra strain on themselves to present at work when clearly not well enough to do so. It’s estimated that more than 400 million working days were lost in the UK due to sickness absence between 2013 and 2015.


In fact, the UK Health & Safety Executive says sickness absence is a key business issue, and an indicator of how well an organisation is managed. While workplace productivity can be affected by several factors, including stress and anxiety, infections can also spread rapidly in closed environments and cause workers to take days off sick.


Taking the time to consider a facility’s hand hygiene options, and carefully tailor cleaning schedules to cover key germ hot spots can save time and money and help boost the health of a workforce. Improving workplace wellbeing by fostering a culture that promotes awareness of health and infection control in offices is good for business as well as worthwhile for society.


www.jangro.net twitter.com/TomoCleaning


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