4 Tips for Reducing the Impact of the Flu Season at the Office

The seasons are in transition right now, and more often than not, this leads to outbreaks of flu amongst people. While you cannot control the environment outside the office, you can still do your best to make sure that it does not spread amongst your employees.

Listed below are four ways you can reduce the impact of flu season at the office.

1. Disinfect desks and surfaces

If someone sneezes over a desk, they also sneeze on the desk. Just wiping down the desk and other working surfaces is not enough to rid it of microorganisms – it just makes it less dusty. Disinfection is very important if you want to prevent the flu from spreading across your workforce.

Additionally, also discourage employees from eating at their desks. Although it shows dedication, it also increases the number of microorganisms on the desktop. In fact, not eating at the workstation should be encouraged all year round, and not just during flu season.

2. Clean your carpets

Carpets require cleaning periodically, but they should be cleaned especially during flu season. Carpets are an extremely conducive environment for bacteria and other germs to flourish in, and hence there might be unwelcome surprises between the threads of the carpet.  

Although carpet cleaning has a lot of aesthetic benefits, this cleaning will be focused on ridding the carpet of germs and other infectious microorganisms. It is recommended that the carpets are cleaned at least once during flu season.

3. Keep hand sanitizers near doors

The doorknob is one of the most germiest places at the office. Employees do not realise it, but a lot of germs in the office are spread through door knobs. They aren’t given much thought, but can potentially infect people due to indirect contact.

Disinfecting the door knobs is also a good idea, but since they’re so frequently used, it might be a better idea to place alcohol-based hand-sanitizers near the doors so that people can disinfect their hands immediately.

4. Do not allow sick employees to come to work

There might be cases of employees coming into work even if they have caught the flu, due to various reasons such as deadlines, pressures, pending work, or more. Do not let these employees come work when they’re sick. If work is truly urgent, ask them to delegate it, or work remotely from home.

An employee who is sneezing and releasing microorganisms around is not good for the office environment, especially if it’s an open office. Flu spreads very rapidly, and an office-wide outbreak might creep up on you out of the blue, all because of one sick employee.

Get your office cleaned and sanitized this flu season

innovatefm provides a diverse range of Commercial Cleaning options, ranging from regular cleaning to scheduled deep cleanings. Our trained staff and innovative methods will ensure that your employees are kept safe from the flu.

Give us a call on (0161) 724 8999 (option 1) or email us at enquiries@innovatefm.co.uk for more information.