Keep Your Workspace Healthy

It isn’t an area where you would expect bacteria and germs, but your work desk – the spot where you spend more than eight hours every day – is infested with germs. Researchers who swabbed chairs, phones, computer mice, keyboards, and desktops to check bacteria levels found the work desk teeming with bacteria sourced from everyday skin-shedding, sneezing, coughing, soil, water and even from the digestive tract.

Most bacteria were found in chair backs and phones—may be because people are more likely to clean their desks and keyboards than chairs!

Make your work environment healthy by following these tips regularly:

• Clean your desk surface thoroughly. A stash of cleaning materials (glass and wood cleaners, wipes and other stuff) may be a good investment for an office.
• Make cleaning your keyboard part of a weekly drill. Don’t forget to swipe down your mouse. Be careful that sprays and cleaners don’t damage the equipment.
• Women’s handbags and laptop bags go everywhere – they are plonked on bathroom floors, in shopping carts and in cars, and are hotbeds of germs. Ensure that you wipe them down with a sanitiser or cleanser.
• Always wash your hands before eating. Or else, use a hand sanitiser.
• Keep your lunch/snack on a makeshift placemat (could be a paper or a napkin) to capture crumbs.
• Clean your work space before and after a meal. Research says that 80 per cent of all infections are transmitted by contact, including contact with surface areas.
• Don’t forget to wipe down the door handle of your cabin/cubicle. It’s handled by so many people each and every day, and needs a cleanup more than once in a while.

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