3 germ-free habits we should follow

Study shows that average Malaysians spend at least 10 hours at work. With the long hours ahead, you will need a strong immune system to keep you away from infectious diseases and keep up with productivity. However, there are several hotspots in office that you might be unaware of and easily make you fall sick. A study conducted by Initial Hygiene Malaysia revealed that the office desk has 400 times more bacteria compared to a toilet seat! If you are looking to stay healthy at work, here are three hygiene habits you should follow

1. Wipe down your phone frequently

If you are a working adult, that means most of your waking hours will be spent at your workplace. Phone call has become an integral part of your daily productivity, whether it is to enquire, negotiate and even clarify something. But, did you know that office phone is actually germy and contains more than 25,000 microbe per square inch? Don’t think that your smartphone is spared, a research found that smartphone contains up to 17,000 bacteria and it’s 10 times more germy than a toilet seat!

So, use the antibacterial wipe such as IT wipe to clean your phone and sanitise your hand regularly to prevent cross-contamination.

2. Stay alert at common washroom

Did you know that your hands will be contaminated with germs especially on common touch points in washroom, such as toilet flush button, water faucet and door handle? This could lead to cross contamination and cause increased in employee absenteeism due to substandard hygiene levels. Therefore, cultivating good hand hygiene habits through Wash, Dry and Sanitise will be beneficial in long run:

• Wash your hands with soap for more than 20 seconds can reduce germ counts by up to 80%
• Dry your hands thoroughly as wet hands spread 1,000 more germs than dry hand.
• Sanitise with hand sanitiser to give your hands the total protection to stop the spread of germ and illness

3. Lid down before you flush

Initial Hygiene Malaysia has done intensive research findings and have found that, flushing without closing the lid might cause the water droplet which contains urine and faecal, to spread germ and bacteria into the air. Toilet sneeze effect can contaminate entire washroom and your body in a minute. In the meanwhile, air contamination will expand it to cross-contamination among your colleagues and end up with a serious illnesses such as diarrhoea due to food contamination.

However, lid down before you flush can reduce the risk of contamination but couldn't 100% guarantee it would have an odourless and clean environment. Office hygiene survey from Initial Hygiene Malaysia shows that 57% of employees feel more motivated to work when they are provided clean washroom.

So, practice a good behaviour to put down the toilet lid before flushing. It can help to minimise the spread of germ and also reduce cross-contamination between each other. It will be better to have toilet and urinal sanitiser to ensure cleanliness and hygienic environment to your employees.

Conclusion:

Don't belittle these hygiene habits, it will keep your employees from harmful bacteria such as Salmonella and E. Coli. Besides, you can always engage hygiene experts from Initial Hygiene Malaysia to help you manage hygiene services at your office and enhances washroom experience for your employees.

For more information, contact us at 1300 882 388 or visit our website.