Creating A Hygienic Environment: Three Aspects Explored

Workplace hygiene is something that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it needs to. A hygienic environment critical for ensuring your staff’s health, but it can also have a significant effect on their happiness at work. You want to create a positive atmosphere, and dirty desks and stuffy smells are the exact opposite of that.

That said, it can be quite difficult to figure out how to tackle it all. There’s a fair amount that goes into both facilitating a hygienic environment and keeping it that way.

This article is here to help with that. Let’s explore three of the most important aspects and give you a head start on ensuring your place stays squeaky clean.

Air Quality and Adequate Ventilation

Air quality should be number one on your list. Poor air quality to contribute to many different health problems and symptoms, from headaches and nausea to respiratory irritation. It’s especially problematic for those with allergies, so ensuring your staff are safe from airborne particulates is critical. There’s also the matter of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are irritants that come from common chemicals and off-gassing furniture.

A well-maintained air conditioning system is essential, and you’ll want one with custom air filters and venting that’s bespoke for your building. These systems will need to be inspected once a year to ensure everything’s working properly.

Regular Cleaning

Basic cleaning goes a long way, and regularly giving the place a quick spritz and a wipe down prevents dirt from building up, which will then warrant a more extensive clean.

High-touch services should be your priority – think door handles, keyboards, mice, and desks. You should also pay attention to the products being used: only utilize non-toxic cleaning solutions, as filling the air with chemicals in a bid to make the place cleaner and more conducive to good health is a little counterproductive.

It’s also a good idea to design a simple hygiene policy for staff to adhere to, and you can then put up some laminated signs for them to follow (shared responsibility is important).

Waste Management

The larger your organization, the more trash is produced. Small businesses can end up with a surprising amount of waste at the end of the day.

You should never get to the point where your bins are overflowing: you’ll want to have a procedure in place that governs when the trash is taken out and how frequently, and develop a recycling program to reduce your impact on the environment.

One important rule you’d be advised to implement is for food not to be consumed at desks. Crumbs will inevitably be dropped, which can then become a breeding ground for bacteria if they’re left and forgotten about. For drinks, just ensure any beverages consumed have a lid to prevent spillages.

Wrapping Up

The above three points cover the main elements you’ll need to think about. A hygienic environment doesn’t have to be hard. It just takes a little effort on everyone’s part to prioritize each other’s well-being.