Jeremy Kaplan
Germs are rife in the workplace – did you know that the average work desk can be up to 100 times less hygienic than your kitchen table, and 400 times dirtier than the average toilet seat? Probably not. When you’re working in close proximity with other colleagues, it’s no wonder that germs and illnesses can spread so quickly, leading to several employees needing sick days away from the office.
If you have an office, you should invest extra money and effort into maintaining it clean and keeping your employees happy within their workspaces. Sometimes, you may also find that your office may be getting too small for everyone, and maybe having the opportunity to check out an office space ready to rent in Downtown Miami can help solve the problems you’re facing. The hygiene and happiness of everyone working can improve when they find that space the work in is clean and spacious, rather than compact and dirty!–
Whilst you might think hiring an office cleaner is an unnecessary cost, industrial cleaning company, DCS Multiserve investigates why keeping your office clean could actually save you money. In a recent report, it was revealed that sickness absences cost employers on average around £29 billion per annum. Here, we discuss the cost of sick days versus the cost of keeping your workplace clean and germ free. Could a clean office save you money in sickness pay-outs?
Germs in the office
Workplace equipment is a breeding ground for germs – the average keyboard is home to approximately 16 million microbes alone – that’s around 3,295 microbes per square inch of your keyboard. Compare this to the fact there’s only around 49 microbes per square inch of a toilet seat, and it suddenly becomes apparent how dirty our keyboards are. And that’s no surprise when only 3% of offices are said to sufficiently clean their equipment – and 11% of employees never clean their keyboards.
Microbes like those that cause the common cold can survive up to 72 hours on equipment, meaning you could pick up the illnesses over two days after somewhere has been contaminated. Even more worrying is that more serious microbes such as MRSA can last anywhere between six weeks to seven months, highlighting how important it is to regularly clean work surfaces and equipment.
With 32% admitting to not washing their hands after using the bathroom, and a further 30% admitting they only use water to ‘wash’ their hands, it’s no surprise that 24% of us have faecal bacteria on our hands, which is then transferred onto the surfaces which we touch. One single person carrying a virus will infect 50% of all equipment and fellow employees in the same vicinity within four hours. Killing germs sooner rather than later will reduce and prevent future contamination and the spread of infections around the office.
The cost of sick days
In the UK’s biggest annual survey of sickness absence rates and costs, which gathered data from over 670 organisations covering just under two million employees, it was revealed that during 2014, sickness absence averaged at 2.8% of working time per annum – that equates to 6.5 sick days per employee. In total, this cost employers an estimated £29 billion a year.
And it seems that 2017 is set to continue at the same rate. So far this year, public sector organisations have witnessed a median of 3.5% of working time lost due to illness (8.1 days per employee) and 2.2% in private-sector organisations (5.1 days per employee). Without your employees, your company’s production rate is limited.
With 80% of infections spreading via contact with contaminated surfaces, your workplace could be the reason why your staff are picking up illnesses and infections, leading to several sick days. Allowing germs to spread around the office can leave employers short staffed and out of pocket, so maybe it’s time to invest in an office cleaner?
The cost of a cleaner
You can implement some quick and cheap actions into the workplace to keep the office sanitary – hand sanitising wipes and gel, regular desk and keyboard cleans and implementing a no food at your desk rule should help. However, you can’t expect your staff to clean the entire workplace on a daily basis to kill any germs that have set up home around the office. Hiring a cleaner, or cleaning company to clean your workplace is an investment which will in turn help to save you money in sick days.
On average, businesses who already pay for office cleaning generally spend around £13 per hour, per cleaner. However, prices can vary on the size of your premises and what you require the cleaner to do. Quotes are unique to each business. It’s likely that you will not need your cleaner to work every hour of the working day – in most cases, a few hours are sufficient — that’s if the company you employ provides a reliable and quality service.
For example, if you were to hire a cleaner for two hours, each working day, it would cost an estimated £130 per week to keep your office clean. Presuming you require a cleaner for 50 weeks of the year, with two weeks off to account for Christmas and any office closures, it would cost approximately £6,760 per year, which is a worthwhile investment to prevent the spread of infections around the office, and save you money in staff sick pay.
