As a professional janitorial service, we often get asked about the best way to prevent an outbreak or spread of an illness in the office. Of course, the short answer is to disinfect and clean, which is pretty common sense when you think about it. However, if you look closely, there is more to it, especially since office workers will need to protect themselves against cough, fever and the common cold.
This article will draw on our experience to list five steps to help stop the spread of illness in any office.
1. Start By Screening Everyone
Office cleaning is important, but the first step is to ensure that the people entering your office are clean. Next, you will want to identify employees who show symptoms like a high fever, shortness of breath, maybe have a headache, sore throat etc. Most of these are indications of the flu, in which case they should either be isolated to sent back home.
2. Isolate Affected Employees
You will want to isolate any employees showing symptoms. They can be isolated in a separate room before they are sent back home. Also, ask employees if they have received the COVID-19 vaccine; if not, they should get tested. The same goes for sick employees during flu season; they should be sent back home on paid leave.
3. Hire Janitorial Service to Disinfect
You will want to hire a commercial disinfection service to disinfect every surface touched, which includes handrails, hand tools, consoles, etc. Our commercial disinfection service uses a list of approved disinfectants, which can be found on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) website.
Alternatively, thorough office cleaning can also be achieved using a diluted solution of household bleach. A dilute bleach solution will contain 1/3 cut of bleach for every gallon of water. Again, it is strongly advised that workers wash their hands after the process.
4. Office Should Have Disinfectants Available
Offices should have disinfectants that are readily available in various areas of the worksite. All employees should be encouraged to wash and clean their hands after eating, visiting the toilet, sneezing and coughing. If you hire a professional janitorial service like ours, soap and water should be readily available to perform thorough regular cleaning.
5. Social Distancing With Adequate Spacing
While social distancing is often associated with stopping the spread of COVID-19, it applies to all viruses and bacterial infections. If you can space people, aka employees, far enough, you’re preventing the transfer of the virus from an infected person to multiple healthy people. It is essential to set up shift and break plans to ensure that everyone can maintain appropriate distance when working.
Our Janitorial Service Is Here To Help
Commercial office cleaning regularly is one of the best ways to make sure that you offer employees a healthy working environment. However, the cleaning and disinfection need to be carried out meticulously by experts like us to ensure that all surfaces are free from viruses and bacteria, which can cause illness.
Request a free custom quote today to take the first step toward a healthier and safe office.