With the flu season creeping in, now is the time to protect yourself from getting sick and losing valuable time at work. For all the germaphobes reading this, one place that probably needs a cleaning is your desk and office. Your personal items and devices in the workplace like keyboards, phones and desks are the biggest culprits for germs.
Here are a few eye-opening statistics:
- Keyboards contain 70 percent more bacteria than a toilet seat.
- Office phones host approximately 25,000 germs per square inch.
- The area where your hands rest on your desk has around 10,000 bacteria, on average.
A shared environment doesn’t mean you need to share your germs. We'd like to share a few healthy practices that will keep you and your office neighbors illness-free this season:
- Frequent hand washing - It’s the first line of defense to keeping germs at bay.
- Stay home if you’re sick – Your colleagues will thank you. Today’s technology allows you to stay connected while you are home sick. Many of us don’t like to call out sick, but it really is one of the best ways to avoid a widespread outbreak in the office.
- Disinfect your personal space – Wipe down office items to reduce the spreading of germs.
- Don’t eat at your desk – Residue from food can breed bacteria.
Here’s to a healthy winter season.
