Office cleaning, you don’t want to be eating while you read this!

Are you reading this at your PC? Maybe on a laptop? Or are you among the growing number of “mobile people”? Whatever device you are using to read this article…When was the last time you cleaned it? If you are at a desk, take a peek inside the keyboard…Do you see where I am going with this? According to a research study carried out by Queen Mary, University of London, 16% of phones had E. coli on them.

So apart from the food, the skin cells, the body fluids, the hair, and the dust, what else is hiding in there? It might surprise you to know that there are quite probably more germs in your keyboard than there are in the toilet.

Meet a few of the germs that can be found on your device

If it makes you feel any better, take a look at the results we found in an office close to here!

We have focused on keyboards during our testing, but they are not the dirtiest places at work! According to a recent report published by Web MD, the six dirtiest places in your offices are:

1. Tap handles in lavatories
2. Microwave door handles
3. Keyboards
4. Refrigerator door handles
5. Water fountain buttons
6. Vending machine buttons

4,800 surfaces across a wide range of offices were tested by the researchers to obtain those results.
Have a look around you, are there nooks and crannies that simply don’t get cleaned? Surfaces that get overlooked? How thorough are the cleaning procedures in your business?

A busy day at the office

Generally speaking, what germs need to survive is similar to any species: food, moisture, warmth and time, all readily available at the office! Bacteria reproduce roughly every 20 minutes, E. coli tend to divide every 17 minutes, so in a 24 hour period one bacteria will divide exponentially to become billions in the right conditions. Start with one bacteria at 9 am in the office and use the equation below to see how many “colleagues he has” by 9am the next day.

Have a go, you may need a calculator!

B = number of bacteria at the beginning of a time interval (1)
b = number of bacteria at the end of the time interval (?)
n = number of generations (number of times the cell population doubles during the time interval) (72)

b = B x (2 to the power of n)

A clean environment

Alongside a planned programme of office cleaning, there is a cleaning system available in the UK that has proven, lasting results. 100% decontamination guarantee with effects lasting up to a year. BioSweep ® is an environmentally safe treatment providing unparalleled protection against microbes including MRSA, Clostridium difficile and fungi as well as particulate matter in the environment. As well as complete decontamination, BioSweep treatment removes odours, leaving your environment, clean, fresh and safe from harmful pathogens.

Pathogen	Treatment Time	Recution (Log)	Reduction as (%)
MRSA	1 hour	6.67	99.999967%
MRSA	4 hours	6.9	99.999969%
C.diff.	5 hours	5.0	99.999%
Geobacillus*	5 hours	5.48	99.99948%

Top tips to keep clean

1. Install a regular programme of cleaning from a reputable and knowledgeable provider.
2. Avoid eating at work stations, spilled food provides a food source for microorganisms.
3. Encourage everyone in your organisation to practise good hygiene.
4. Book annual BioSweep ® decontamination.

Ideal Response has been providing cleaning services carried out by trained professionals since 2001. We are proud to be the exclusive providers of BioSweep ® technology. We provide a cost-effective cleaning programme that fits around you meaning minimal disruption to your workplace, a “start-to-finish” solution. BioSweep is suitable for any environment that we can isolate e.g.: offices, kitchens, restaurants, sporting facilities, healthcare, education, manufacturing and transport. We are happy to advise you.

✓ Fully insured
✓ Certified Technicians
✓ 100% Contamination free guarantee with Surface Defence®
✓ CHAS accredited (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme)
✓ ISO 9001:2008 (Quality Management System)