7 Tips to Maintain Proper Hygiene in the Workplace for Better Productivity and Safety

Offices can often be Petri dishes for viruses and germs. If you fail to maintain good hygiene, this could seriously affect the health and safety of your employees. However, a lack of cleanliness could impact the business as well. Dirt, clutter, disorganization, and workplace hazards can all be huge distractions that could drive down the productivity and efficiency of your staff, and negatively affect your bottom line. 

To ensure safety and success, you will have to maintain proper hygiene in the workplace, and here are some simple ways you could do just that:

1. Make hygiene a priority

In order to ensure cleanliness is maintained throughout the workplace, it has to be a collective effort. Providing a written hygiene policy to your employees can be of great help in this instance. This document will give them the necessary information about your intentions and expectations regarding hygiene in the workplace, and potentially encourage them to play a more active role in maintaining cleanliness as well. 

A written policy also conveys determination, telling your employees that you are serious about office hygiene and your workplace safety in general.

2. Implement a cleanup policy

An important aspect to implement in a hygiene policy is daily cleanup. Put up signs to remind your employees to wash their hands, create a checklist of actionable steps your staff can take each day, or even send company-wide reminders to ensure everyone keeps cleanliness in mind. This means ensuring the workplace is clear of any debris, spills, and other potential hazards. 

When you turn cleanliness into a daily habit, you can be certain everyone in the office is doing their part to maintain hygiene, and you might even be able to achieve a higher productivity level overall.

3. Minimize desk clutter

Desks represent workstations for your employees, where your staff will likely spend most of their time and complete most of their work. For that reason, it’s not uncommon for desks to be cluttered, but it is crucial to keep them as clean and organized as possible. With clear and neat work areas, you can make the entire workplace appear tidier, and it might even help to boost employee productivity as well. 

So, aim to instill the habit of cleaning their desks daily into your employees, and make it a point to provide bins and cleaning equipment that everyone has access to.

4. Improve waste management

Waste can be one of the most significant hygiene issues in the workplace, and developing a good management and collection system is absolutely crucial for maintaining cleanliness and safety on your premises. That is why Australian businesses, for example, will often implement a high-quality waste chute from Melbourne into their on-site systems. 

Being a convenient and reliable solution, waste chutes enable companies to quickly, easily, and safely move all their trash to the ground floor, and can be the perfect waste management solution if you work in a multi-story office space as well.

5. Provide needed equipment

On the other hand, in many countries across Europe, businesses aim to make the entire workplace more hygienic by providing tissues, cleaning wipes, and hand sanitizers to their employees. They have realized that when people have access to visible and convenient hygiene equipment, they are more likely to use it. With this in mind, you can also implement a similar method. 

Along with the bathroom, place hand sanitizers and cleaning wipes near all exits and entrances, desks, kitchens, lounges, and other communal areas. They will serve as a great reminder to your employees to clean their hands regularly.

6. Assess potential risks

While smaller hygienic habits could lead to great changes in the overall cleanliness of the workplace, it’s also essential to improve safety in order to support the health and security of your employees. To do this, conduct an assessment of your premises. Walk around the facility, assess potential risks, and prioritize the main areas of concern. 

Are there any spaces within the workplace that are prone to dirt, spills, clutter, and other factors that could potentially affect your employees’ health and safety? If so, aim to eliminate all hazards and educate your employees on the importance of cleanliness for safety.

7. Schedule regular cleanings

After all, the best method for maintaining proper hygiene in the workplace is making sure professionals regularly clean your facility. Your employees cleaning up after themselves is only superficial. A professional cleaning service will be able to do a deeper clean, and ensure hygiene and safety on your premises. 

The frequency of cleaning will likely depend on the type of business you run and the amount of traffic your office gets, but certain things tend to be universal – bathrooms should be cleaned every day, a surface cleaning of the workplace should be done once a week, and a deep clean only a few times per year.

Wrapping up

Maintaining a clean workplace is just as crucial for employee productivity as it is for their health and safety. Follow the tips above to ensure a hygienic work environment for everyone involved.

Written by Guest Author – Derek Lotts

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