Out with the old: your guide to office spring cleaning

In this blog we’ll provide you with a comprehensive guide to spring cleaning your office and putting measures in place to help keep it hygienic and safe for your colleagues.

This year has flown by rather quickly and you might be surprised to learn that spring is already on our doorstep – with the 1st of September only a few days away. This means that ordinarily, we might start thinking about spring cleaning in the next few weeks. And now that more and more people are being vaccinated, we are likely to see more colleagues start filtering back into the office.

Our Guide to Office Spring Cleaning: 

We’ve rounded up 7 critical areas to take into account when planning an office spring clean.

1. Add an air filtration system to your office space

In a previous blog – 5 shocking facts about air quality in South Africa – we highlighted the hidden dangers of poor air quality. Did you know that according to the South African BenMap model, 27 000 premature deaths are due to chronic exposure to fine particular matter (PM) found in our polluted air. 

Adding in an air purifier like the VIRUSKILLER™ can help remove harmful pathogens and PM from communal breathing zones. This will also allow employees to feel comfortable returning to offices knowing that you’ve put measures that aim to reduce the risk of airborne transmission.

2. Book a bathroom deep cleaning treatment: 

Did you know that the flushing rims, fittings, and surrounding areas of each of your toilet cubicles – as well as other bathroom amenities – are exposed to continuous deposits of faecal matter and other harmful bacteria that daily cleaning can’t effectively treat? Even with great daily cleaning, this bacteria builds up throughout the year and eventually requires an expert deep cleaning bathroom treatment.

Now would be a good time to book a deep cleaning treatment to take care of that so you can truly have a fresh start to spring.

3. Book a specialist disinfection service:

Scheduling periodic specialist disinfection services that coincide with daily cleaning goes a long way in protecting employees and customers. This is because proper disinfection services use ultra-low volume (ULV) fogging technology that quickly and effectively eliminates disease-causing pathogens including viruses, bacteria, yeasts, and fungi, thus reducing the risk of illness and cross-contamination.

4. Clean your office equipment:

It’s easy to forget that the office equipment we use on a daily basis is potentially harbouring germs that could make us sick. With spring arriving, now might be a great time to usher in some freshness by booking a techno-hygiene treatment. This treatment is carried out by hygiene technicians who will clean and disinfect those hard-to-reach places (like between the keys of your keyboard) without damaging the equipment.

5. Clean office rugs/mats:

Your daily cleaners may clean the carpets regularly throughout the year with a run-over of the vacuum cleaner, but more often than not they don’t take the time to wash rugs or carpets thoroughly. It might be worth taking a look for yourself to ensure they are clean. Alternatively, mats from Initial hygiene are regularly cleaned and replaced – and are an excellent way of not only ensuring a great first impression but also preventing slips, trips, and falls.

6. Clean light fixtures:

The inside of hanging light fixtures and floor or desk lamps often harbour a lot of dust that goes unnoticed, especially those located in hard-to-reach areas. You might want to give them a good wipe and sanitise them with a good quality surface sanitiser to remove potentially harmful dust build-up.

7. Give your air conditioner some attention

Air conditioners also harbour dust – and possibly pathogens – if left unchecked, and this will inevitably compromise your air quality. Make sure you contact a reputable air conditioning specialist to clean the ducts and vents before turning the air conditioning on for summer. 

Springtime should be a time for joy and freshness after having braved the winter cold and the strong August winds. During this time your office space should mirror those feelings and help make everyone feel comfortable as more people make their way back into the office. Following these steps should help freshen things up and help make everyone feel safe as well.

The experts in workplace hygiene:

As experts in hygiene, we provide multiple services to help you keep your premises safe and hygienic for everyone. As part of our service, we conduct a professional hygiene survey of your premises which allows us to identify risk areas within your premises, the hygiene measures required, and the correct service package for your needs. Find out more about our professional hygiene survey here, or contact us to discuss this further.