The weather is changing from summer to fall, which means soon the air will be getting cooler and illnesses will be more abundant. It could be the common cold, it could be the flu, or it could be some other strand of illness. Whatever the cause, when your employees get sick, productivity suffers. So you’re going to want to know how to keep germs from spreading in the office so everyone stays happy and healthy.
When people are starting to get sick, here are a few things you can do to prevent the spread of germs throughout the office.
Encourage Employees to Wash Hands
Washing our hands is one of the easiest ways to prevent the spread of germs and keep yourself healthy. Our hands touch a lot of potentially contaminated surfaces. This can range from keyboards to tables to our own faces. Then those hands touch our food, eyes, and mouth, giving the germs an easy way past our defenses and into our bodies.
So naturally, the best way to keep from getting sick or spreading germs is to encourage employees to wash their hands. Place helpful signs near the bathroom door or break room sink and make sure those rooms are well supplied with soap and paper towels.
Have Tissues and Hand Sanitizer Available
When colds or allergies are in full swing, people start coughing and sneezing a lot more. When this happens, it’s vital for them to have something to cough or sneeze into. Otherwise, germs and mucus goes all over monitors, desks, and hands. Having each desk and department well-stocked with tissues will ensure sneezing employees can grab one in time when they feel a sneeze coming.
You’ll also benefit from having hand sanitizer within reach, too. Hand washing is great, but when someone is constantly getting up from their work to wash their hands, that cuts into productivity. To cut down on the number of trips to the bathroom and kill germs instantly, offer up bottles of hand sanitizer for employees to keep at their desks.
Implement Sick Policies
Yes, we know that staff calling out sick cuts into productivity, but staff coming in sick is even more detrimental. When a person comes in sick, they spread the germs to the other employees, infecting them. This results in more people getting sick, who then spread it to others, and before you know it the entire office is working at reduced productivity because they’re sick and miserable.
Paid sick leave protects your office from outbreaks. Employees won’t feel pressured to come into the office when they’re infectious, so they can recover properly at home and come back healthy. One employee being out for a few days will prevent an entire department from calling out, so productivity loss is minimal.
Schedule a Commercial Cleaning Service
One of the best ways to prevent the spread of germs in your office is to hire a high-quality commercial cleaning service. With trained teams that use the latest cleaning technology coming in on a regular basis, germs will be kept at bay. They will disinfect surfaces as well as keep tissues, paper towels, and soap stocked. They’re your most powerful line of defense against the spread of germs, so it’s important to choose a company that can keep your office germ-free and healthy. Contact us today to keep your facilities clean and germ-free!