Top 5 Tips to Disinfect Your Office
With our nation’s top doctors now alerting local businesses and schools to prepare for a potential coronavirus crisis, local companies are scrambling to disinfect their workspaces the right way to keep employees and customers safe. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)is now urging U.S. businesses to vigorously and routinely wipe down workplace surfaces to contain the spread of the potentially deadly virus.
The local office cleaning pros at Stratus Building Solutions are swamped with calls from companies that want cleanings - and advice - on how to keep offices germ free.
“With this new warning from the CDC, businesses need to step up their efforts to make sure their workplaces are disinfected regularly and properly,” says Afshin Cangarlu, the CEO of Stratus Building Solutions, a national commercial cleaning franchise with offices in our area. “There are specific cleaning tools and methods and a right and wrong way to tackle disinfection that could make or break the health of employees.”
Top 5 Tips to Disinfect Your Office
- One-Way Wipe Down - Wipe down a surface in one direction and don’t go back over it in the opposite direction because you will deposit germs you just cleaned up. Routinely wipe down all frequently touched surfaces such as workstations, countertops and don’t forget doorknobs.
- Color Coded Cleaning – Color code cloths for specific spaces so you don’t cross-contaminate the kitchen cloths with the bathroom cloths and discard immediately after use.
- Smart Spraying – On the bottle, common household disinfectants tout their ability to kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses, including human coronavirus, flu strains, E.coli and salmonella among others. But will they work against the new “novel “coronavirus? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says these disinfectants are thought to be effective against the new coronavirus strain, but until tests confirm it, this has not been scientifically proven. Meanwhile, Stratus Building Solutions touts its Sani-Spritz Spray as the best protection against office germs.
- Tech Disinfect – Don’t forget to wipe down employee laptops, mousses and especially cell phones. One study by a web-based researched platform found we touch our cell phones 2,000 times a day. Other recent studies indicate the average adult brings their fingers to their nose, mouth or eyes about 16 times per hour, and germs thrive on human touch and the tech we touch! The use of Electrostatic Sprayer Disinfecting Systems is the gold standard for attacking germs in difficult to reach spaces.
- Hand-Washing Warnings – Post handwashing- and drying signs EVERYWHERE – from the kitchen to the bathroom – as a reminder to employees to wash hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60-95% alcohol or with warm water and soap for at least twenty seconds. ( as long as it takes to sing the Happy Birthday song!) Dry hands thoroughly because germs spread with moisture.