It is flu season.
After you had a fifth employee of your 33 staff team call in sick with a confirmed case of the flu, you took a pretty drastic step. You actually asked a doctor you knew to come into the office and write prescriptions for a flu preventative medication for the rest of the staff. You could not force any of those employees to actually fill the prescription, and the copay for the medicine was as high as $130 for those who had not yet met their deductible, but you had at least provided a tool that could serve as a defense for the rest of your staff succumbing to the contagious condition.
Although the prescriptions were a decent reaction to the fifth case of flu, you also decided to make some decisions that be more preventative, rather than just reactionary. The same day that the doctor was visiting your office, you also had scheduled appointments with potential office cleaning companies in the afternoon. You now completely understand the value of outsourced janitorial services. With a set of tips for hiring a cleaning service in hand, you feel equipped with the best questions to ask of any office cleaning service that you are considering.
Is Office Illness Affecting the Productivity of Your Company?
No employer wants their employees to miss too many days at work, but it is important to understand that a sick employee who comes into the office can be problematic. Especially during the height of cold and flu season, encouraging sick employees to stay out of the office or to work from home is very beneficial. Equally beneficial, employers who have the health of their employees in mind do not hesitate to hire a competent office cleaning service to ensure a healthier workplace.
- Knowing that it is cold and flu season should be reason enough to be proactive and make sure that your workers come into a clean and sanitized environment everyday. Lost productivity hours caused by illness can have a negative effect on your staff, your products, and your services.
- Estimates indicate that only 10% of people ever clean their keyboard; worse yet, 20% never clean their mouse.
- Even though an office is clean, it is not necessarily healthy. Did you know, for instance, that because of the chemical-based cleaning products that are often used, indoor air pollution levels can as much as 100 times higher than pollution levels outside.
- Professional cleaning services are increasingly moving toward environmentally friendly cleaning products. Although still effective in sanitizing desks, door handles, and other office surfaces, these green products cause less harm to the environment.
- Industry specific cleaning services are especially effective. Knowing, for instance, all of the potential problems in a auto service waiting room means that these cleaning workers can help business owners know what needs to be cleaned especially carefully.
- There are more than 15,000 petrochemicals available for home cleaning use. Unfortunately, only 30% of of these have been tested for exposure to human health and the environment.
- Cleaning agencies typically work second or third shift because buildings are typically cleaned when regular employees are not present. Carpet shampooing and other intense cleaning tasks often go on during weekends.
- Life gets busy. Work life can be especially hectic. No matter how busy an office is, however, business owners need to make sure that they are providing a clean and healthy work environment for their employees.
- Every place can be subjected to the close watch of both employees and customers when it comes to cleanliness. For instance, as many as 88% of adults indicate that they will not exercise in a gym or athletic facility if they found it to have cleanliness issues.
- According to the National Association of Professional Organizations, paper clutter is often cited as the number one problem for most businesses. In the worst case scenarios, paper clutter can also become a fire hazard.
- New spaces and new offices are often easy to keep clean. Older buildings and offices, on the other hand can be more challenging. The fact that some office cleaning companies specialize in certain kinds of cleaning means that even new offices might benefit from a cleaning staff that has experience in keeping new buildings looking that way.