The 7 Hardest to Disinfect Areas in Your Workplace

The typical workplace is crawling with bacteria. When employees are sick, it’s also littered with viruses. Bacteria and viruses can seriously impact the health, happiness, and productivity of your workforce. So, if you’re looking to improve employee comfort and performance, it’s important that you properly disinfect your workplace.

That’s easier said than done in certain areas. Germs thrive in spaces that are dark, moist, and warm. Unfortunately, these areas are often some of the hardest for cleaners to reach. Germs in these areas often flourish untouched — unless your cleaners use a specialized disinfection system.

Here are seven of the toughest spots for cleaners to disinfect in the typical workplace.

The Toughest Spots for Workplace Disinfection

1. Telephone Handsets and Keypads. Telephone keypads pick up grease and bacteria on every outgoing phone call. Meanwhile, the receiver acquires plenty of germs from airborne saliva. And because of the nooks, cracks, and crevices in these areas, a simple disinfectant wipe isn’t enough to neutralize bacteria.
2. Computer Keyboards and Peripherals. Computer keyboards and other peripherals, like mice, have the same problems with bacteria build-up as telephone keypads. Worse yet, food crumbs and spatter often get in the spaces between keys, giving germs an easy place to hide.
3. Bathroom Fixtures. Toilets, urinals, and bathroom cubicles are rarely designed to make cleaners’ lives easy. Many janitorial services end up missing nooks and crannies in the undersides of bathroom fixtures, along with the crevices where parts join together.
4. Bathroom and Break Room Faucets. Faucets are typically the germiest places in any workplace on a germs-per-square-inch basis. Not only are they covered in germs, they often have cracks and crevices where germs can hide from careless cleaners.
5. Fridge and Microwave Handles/Buttons. Most people think their office bathroom is the germiest room in their workplace, but that title often falls to the break room. Spills and stains from food and beverages can build up in a hurry, dish sponges fester in damp conditions, and employees are less likely to wash their hands than in the bathroom.
6. Your Break Room Coffee Machine. Fridges, faucets, and microwaves aren’t the only things teeming with germs in your break room. The office coffee machine is another front row candidate for bacteria, thanks to plenty of moisture, warmth, and hard-to-reach spaces.
7. Carpeting, Rugs and Upholstery. These materials are some of the most difficult to disinfect. Textiles often harbor moisture and bacteria deep within their fabrics, and common disinfectants — like bleach — can damage or discolor the material.

So, what should you do about disinfection for these areas? To start, you can give your local JAN-PRO® office cleaning company a call.

At JAN-PRO, we use EnviroShield® to disinfect tough-to-clean spaces in the workplace. To disinfect these spaces, EnviroShield® uses misting technology that electrostatically charges disinfectant particles. The electrostatic charge attracts the particles toward the treated surface, enabling the commercial disinfectant to wrap itself around the surface and reach areas that cleaners can’t get to on their own. This way, germs have nowhere to hide.

Learn more about EnviroShield® and request a FREE commercial cleaning estimate by calling 866-355-1064 today.