Ways to Protect Your Office Against the Flu with Office Cleaning
The flu is a productivity killer for commercial offices. It’s important to protect your office against the flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control, U.S. employees miss 17 million days of work each year because of the flu, which costs employers an estimated $7 billion in lost productivity.
For most offices, an outbreak of the flu can throw all momentum off course. Fortunately, there’s a relatively simple solution: Regular commercial cleaning and disinfecting.
Disinfecting your work space is one of the most significant ways to protect your office against the flu. In fact, routine cleaning is something the CDC recommends for controlling the spread of influenza in schools, which can be applied to commercial work spaces.
Beyond routine cleaning, though, there are steps every office can take to protect against influenza. Here are a few of the most important steps offices can take to stay healthy and clean during flu season:
- Practice Basic Hygiene to Prevent the Spread of Germs
Simple hygiene can go a long way to preventing the spread of influenza. Here’s why: On surfaces, the influenza virus can infect people for up to 48 hours, according to the CDC.
Promoting good hygiene can thus slow the spread. The OSHA highly recommends offices and critical environments follow some basic protocols, including:
- Encourage employees to stay home if they’re sick
- Providing hygiene educational materials during flu season
- Wash hands regularly
- Provide hand sanitizer to employees in multiple locations
- Cover your coughs and sneezes
- Keep disinfectant wipes in the office
- Encourage employees to disinfect their personal work space
This strategy isn’t just great for flu season; it can help prevent illness throughout the year.
Bonus Tip: Reminders work! According to one study, hand washing reminders improved compliance across all employee groups.
- Disinfect More Frequently to Kill Germs
Professional cleaning service is one of the fastest ways to slow the spread of influenza. Regular cleaning, though, isn’t always enough. Although using a professional cleaning service will help to slow the spread of influenza, cleaning alone doesn’t disinfect surfaces.
That’s why it’s important to work with your commercial cleaning company during flu season on a disinfectant program. Many surfaces in your office should be disinfected regularly during flu season, including:
- Office supplies like staplers
- Computers and copiers
- Phones and handsets
- Shared furniture, e.g. conference room tables and chairs
- Door knobs and handles
- Common areas
Having a commercial cleaning service professionally disinfect your work space routinely is the most-effective flu prevention tactic. Proper disinfecting kills 90% of germs, including the flu virus. That’s why during flu season, your commercial cleaning program should include regular disinfecting services.
Need Help? Contact Hercules Services
Hercules Services is your trusted vendor for quality professional office cleaning. We service clients throughout Northeast Ohio. Including Cleveland, Akron, Canton and surrounding areas. We’re here to assist with your office and workplace disinfect needs.
Contact us today for all your office cleaning needs!
CONTACT HERCULES SERVICES FOR YOUR COMMERCIAL OFFICE CLEANING
Hercules Services is a full service janitorial and commercial cleaning company equipped to keep your office or business in top shape for years to come. Our happy clients can testify to the quality of our work, the efficiency of our professionals, and the beautiful clean that they experience. If you’re ready to see how a professional can upgrade your service and keep your clients happy, give us a call at 216-464-1530 or visit us online. To see testimonials and specials, follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
