“Just one person infected with the flu-virus has saturated their germs in the workplace in just four hours (40-60% of surfaces and 40-60% of people infected)” – AOL Health article featuring Sumathi Reddy, Health Reporter at the Wall Street Journal

Flu season is upon us (November – April), and according to the CDC, billions of dollars are lost in workplace productivity each year as the virus sweeps through offices!

A healthier indoor environment is vital to prevent the flu-virus from spreading. This is especially true in this day and age as the majority of our time is spent in a climate controlled indoor setting.

Tips to Prevent the Flu-Virus from Spreading in Your Office

Many articles will share common well-known tips such as minimizing contact with highly touched items (e.g. door knobs, elevator buttons, water fountains, refrigerator handles, etc.), and washing your hands on a frequent basis. While these are important practices, below are a few more tips to have in place to further prevent the spread of the flu-virus in your office:

Install touch-less hand towel dispensers and hands-free soap dispensers

Installing touch-less hand towel dispensers and hands-free soap dispensers is an excellent way to reduce employee’s exposure to high-touch items in your restrooms and kitchen areas.

Place trash cans by restroom doors

Placing a trash can by restroom doors can encourage people to use a paper towel to open the door versus using their hands.

Place hand sanitizing stations in common areas of buildings

Post signs in restrooms and pantries on proper hand washing techniques

Ensure hot water is provided at the right temperature to wash hands effectively

Bonus Tip:

Make sure your office has an effective flu-response plan in place

“Studies have shown that the influenza virus can survive on environmental surfaces and can infect a person up to 2-8 hours after being deposited on the surface.” – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Having a proper regimen in place to clean, disinfect and sanitize your office is a critical component to lower your risk of a flu outbreak. It is also important to recognize that different pathogenic bacteria and viruses are destroyed more effectively by different cleaning materials and sanitizers. The Norovirus group, for instance, is best disinfected by using a sodium Hypochlorite (bleach) based sanitizer, whereas the influenza virus group can be disinfected by using quaternary ammonia compounds.

Earlier this year we published an article discussing the differences on cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing, along with best practices to prevent the spread of the flu-virus on surfaces. Ultimately, it helps to have a cleaning company that has the knowledge and experience to use best practices in preventing the spread of the virus from impacting your bottom-line.

How Mister Kleen Can Help

While the flu can take place suddenly, people can host the flu virus for 1-4 days before symptoms can begin to take place.

Mister Kleen attends classes and seminars to learn best practices to improve the health and well-being of each facility that we clean. During Flu Season we reiterate and ensure key staff is properly trained to perform daily cleaning tasks for best health practices. Such cleaning tasks and health practices include proper cleaning processes, and techniques to effectively disinfect and sanitize high touch and use areas to kill bacteria and prevent the spread of the flu virus.

If at any time you have a question regarding our effective techniques to clean your facility please contact us. We are more than happy to provide our recommendations on best practices to prevent the spread of the flu-virus from impacting your health and workplace bottom-line.

Mister Kleen is a leading provider of contract cleaning services to Commercial and High Security facilities since 1976. Our primary service area is the DC Metro region. We also provide a variety of interior and exterior specialty services.