Making good hygiene a habit

Clean business facilities don't just look better, they and their occupants funtion  better. Morale is better when things are clean, accessible, and uncluttered. Improved feelings of well-being result in improved productivity. Customers can sense when things are running well, the energy is better. 

See where we are going with this? A good percentage of your business's success is supported  by how clean it is kept. Customers rank cleanliness as the most important contributing factor in feeling comfortable when there. It's also high in overall customer satisfaction, too.

For employees, cleanliness has an overall effect on their productivity and commitment. When you consider the estimates of how many days the average employee misses each year due to illness, you can only come to one conclusion — workplace hygiene matters.

If you take care of your cleaning tasks with in-house staff, these tips could make things go more smoothly. If you employ a business or office cleaning firm, following these tips can improve your work environment and help get the best results from your cleaning service.

Building your hygiene effort — start small and be consistent

People first – get your employees on-board. Don't assume anything. Establish a to-do list for employees to follow. When you present the list to your group, make a point of how good habits and concern for others can be contagious. Each staff member should understand their part in making a better place to work — and how it will benefit them.

Once your staff has their assignments, it is up to you to verbally remind, encourage, and compliment employees. Reinforce with some signage, especially in shared high-traffic areas such as sinks, coffee makers and other areas that can easily attract messes.

Signage is also a great way to make small reminders regarding personal hygiene like covering a cough or sneeze and washing hands. Small signs are effective, especially in restrooms, near food handling areas, and on a shared refrigerator. With a little effort, signage can help create a feeling of shared responsibility, getting everyone involved. 

Note: One issue we haven't mentioned is dealing with employees who are suffering from a cold, flu, or worse. People come to work when sick for several reasons – from losing a day of pay to a sense of duty, and so on. This is a matter of company policy and must be resolved by management. Keep in mind that having a sick employee on the job is a threat to the entire staff and overall productivity. 

Once you have their attention, show you care by making hand sanitizers and wipes available. When employees have convenient access to hand sanitizer dispensers for a quick application. Anti-bacterial wipes make it easy to wipe countertops and other shared equipment. It is a fact that the average desktop has over 300% more germs than a toilet seat! 

1. Dispose and recycle garbage regularly. Not only is it unsightly and smelly, unattended garbage can also harbor germs that lead to sickness. Plus, it sends a bad signal to customers about how you do business. Empty trash and recycling at least a few times a week, if not daily.

Restrooms should be spotless — something everyone will agree with. Survey  after survey confirms that the condition of a restroom can make or break someone's opinion of a business. In restaurants, customers linked the  condition of the restroom with the overall cleanliness of the establishment. This listing is meant to help you with what should be on your hygiene to-do list. There are many step-by-step restroom cleaning guides available. (A good article to start with is here in this blog... )

5. Offer sick days. One of the quickest blows to business is when productivity stops or drops due to the rapid spread of sickness at work. When a sick person comes to work, 40–60 percent of surfaces become infected in as little as two hours, and before you know it, that one sick person turns into three, then five, then half the office is walking around sick. Part of practicing good hygiene is keeping sick people at home, and that message has to come from the top. Offer sick days or work-from-home options and you will save money in the long run.

6. Set up a cleaning schedule. It is very easy for everyone to get so busy with the work at hand that no one has time to stop and clean. Don’t leave a hygienic workplace to chance or when someone has “time” to get to it. Set a cleaning schedule for everyone and for every area. Maybe a professional cleaning crew comes in daily or twice a week, but other hygiene tasks should be scheduled as well. From a weekly workstation wipe down to daily kitchen duty, it is more likely to get cleaned if it is scheduled.

7. Protect easy-to-overlook areas. Even with scheduled cleanings and a group effort, it is easy for areas to fall through the cracks. That’s where electrostatic spraying can make a huge difference. At Enviro-Master, our unique Sani-Guard service uses an electrostatic sprayer (looks like a water gun) which places a positive charge on a germicide that sticks to all kinds of surfaces, from hard-to-reach areas in the restroom, to cubicle walls, flooring and any kind of equipment or countertops. It is food-safe and hospital-grade, killing 99.999 percent of germs. Weekly sprays will kill germs and give peace of mind that your workplace hygiene is the best it can be.