Now that November’s here, it’s time to start thinking about flu prevention in your office. As an employer, you play a big role in keeping your staff healthy during flu season. The practices you put in place for office cleaning and workplace hygiene will be crucial to keeping your staff healthy and protected. While no office is ever truly “flu-proof,” a proactive approach to cleaning and hygiene will dramatically reduce the risk of an office-wide case of the flu.
At JAN-PRO®, maintaining workplace health and hygiene is what we do best. Below, we’ve collected our seven best office cleaning and hygiene tips for flu-proofing your office.
Defend Against the Flu in 7 Simple Steps
- Encourage Vaccinations. The best defense against the flu is vaccination. While it’s up to each employee to get themselves vaccinated, it’s a good idea to remind workers early and often about the need for vaccination.
- Post Handwashing Reminders. Most people don’t wash their hands as thoroughly or as often as they should, so it’s a good idea to post reminders in your bathrooms about healthy handwashing procedures.
- Teach Workers About Flu Risks. The more often a surface or object is touched, the higher its risk for carrying viruses like the flu. Common high-touch surfaces in the office include door handles, faucet handles, phones receivers, office equipment, and elevator buttons.
- Sanitizers & Disinfectant Wipes. It’s a good idea to stock up on hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes and position these around the office. Encourage your employees to use these supplies to reduce their risk of the flu.
- Minimize Shared Meals & Snacks. An office event with shared food and beverages can be a great morale boost other times of the year. But these events are particularly risky during flu season, so it’s a good idea to cut back or stop holding them until the season passes.
- Send Sick Workers Home. Some surveys have found that more than 50% of employees will come into work if they’re sick with the flu. Any time a worker is sick, it’s a much better idea to send them home than risk infecting the entire office.
- Disinfect More Frequently. You can safeguard against the flu by reviewing the extent of your disinfection program. You might want to request that your office cleaning provider disinfect your workplace more frequently than usual, or use a more effective system to ensure the highest level of hygiene. At JAN-PRO, our office cleaning teams use our EnviroShield® commercial disinfection system to safely eliminate the flu virus and other contagions anywhere in the office.
Protect your workplace against the flu this year with office cleaning services by JAN-PRO. Call 866-355-1064 today to learn more about our EnviroShield® system and book a FREE office cleaning consultation.