Workplaces are often most susceptible to germs and viruses with high activity levels and exposure to numerous people. It is crucial to keep your work surfaces clean and employees sanitized all day to minimize the risk of disease and infection.
The Difference Between Cleaning and Disinfection
Cleaning and disinfection are two terms that are typically mixed up and interpreted to mean the same thing. However, they are actually different and provide varying results. It is vital to understand this difference while maintaining the hygiene levels of office surfaces.
What Is Cleaning?
Cleaning involves the act of removing dirt, soil, and other impurities from all types of surfaces. For instance, wiping a spilled beverage off a counter with detergent and water. It goes without saying that all office surfaces must be cleaned regularly with a good cleaning detergent to avoid the accumulation of dirt and maintain a hygienic environment.
What Is Disinfection?
Disinfection is the act of destroying harmful microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria. For instance, wiping the counter with bleach or a strong disinfecting agent. Only cleaning will not be effective in controlling the spread of the virus.
If surfaces are not soiled, you can simply disinfect them. It is advisable to use your judgment to determine which surfaces need cleaning and which ones, only disinfection.
Cleaning and Disinfecting Methods
Areas with common contact surfaces in a public gathering and accessible areas require daily cleaning or disinfection, and sometimes, both.
- A detergent and water solution can be used to remove dirt and soil from surfaces and objects that are touched frequently by different people.
- While using a disinfectant solution, follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer or public health official to wipe common touch surfaces, ensuring that the disinfection contact time is sufficient and remains wet for that period for maximum efficacy. Always check the quality of products used for disinfection.
- Surfaces that are not commonly touched but are exposed to regular wear and tear, such as floors, need to be cleaned daily but can be disinfected weekly.
Areas where the surfaces are not commonly used or accessed should be cleaned on a routine basis and disinfected at the same time.
- Many workplaces usually have contracts that provide cleaning services after hours. However, employers and employees must understand the details of the cleaning and disinfection services provided.
Guide to Ensuring Your Employees Are Sanitized All Day
Here is a step-by-step guide to ensuring that your employees are protected with a disinfected and sanitized work environment all through the day.
Make a list of all the surfaces and equipment that your employees come in contact with frequently. These are the areas that require more focus when it comes to disinfecting and sanitizing.
Start with entry and exit points. Keep sanitizer pumps right next to the doorways so that employees are mandated to sanitize their hands before they touch the doorknobs or handles. Also include high traffic areas such as the office cafeteria, pantry, washrooms, conference rooms, alleys, lounges, and reception area.
Communicate hygiene expectations with your employees. Ensure that everyone understands their role in keeping the work environment clean, safe, and healthy by practicing proper hand hygiene with the help of hand sanitizers. Explain to them the importance of alcohol-based sanitizers in eliminating harmful viruses and germs.
It will be easier to maintain cleanliness and sanitation when the environment is more organized and decluttered. Encourage your employees to routinely declutter their workspaces.
To inculcate health and safety practices, it is essential to nurture a sense of cleanliness and hygiene, promoting policies that encourage it. Highlight healthy habits through signs and posters as a reminder to your employees.
Make it a habit that a checklist with a cleaning and disinfecting schedule is maintained to keep a tab on the routine cleaning and disinfection process, as well as the use of hand sanitizers and masks. Moreover, a routine inspection can ensure that employees do not become lax in following the hygiene norms.
All the above steps can ensure a clean and sanitized workplace, but no matter how stringent our hygiene methods are, it is only human to err. Despite all your attempts to maintain healthy practices at the workplace, your employees are bound to slip up sometimes. For instance, they might forget to sanitize their hands as frequently as mandated from time to time. Some work profiles require them to do field jobs in crowded areas, where they must exercise even more caution to protect themselves from infections.
At such times, a pen sanitizer spray with 24-hour protection can be of great use. Not only is it mobile and easy to carry, but it also provides all-day protection with a single application. Just Human 24-hour protection hand sanitizer comes in a pen sanitizer spray form, offering an invisible protective bionic shield for 24 hours straight, as proven by tests conducted at independent GLP labs globally. It kills 99.9% of germs and viruses. Free from harsh chemicals, it is skin-friendly, safe, and can be used even after handwashing.
How about supplying a Just Human 24-hour pen sanitizer spray to your employees along with your regular office supplies? It will offer protection to them and your work environment and help employees focus better on their tasks rather than constantly worrying about getting infected.
In Conclusion
Every workplace needs to address the sanitizing practices of their employees and the hygiene and cleanliness of their work environment. Diligent measures and due caution can ensure that your employees stay protected in a safe environment where they spend their maximum time.
A healthy and stress-free employee is more productive and sharper than those who are not. And it also ensures that your employees take fewer sick days away from work, thereby fostering maximum productivity. Invest in Just Human 24-hour protection pen sanitizer spray to keep your employees sanitized all day long.
