Working in an office environment often means spending long hours indoors, sharing the same space as a whole host of other people. As a result, illnesses and infections often spread very quickly between employees, leading to multiple employee absences, and then additional stress for a short staffed team. The office desk is a common source of these problems, hosting a range of bacteria. Shared desks, or hot desks, can be even more problematic. So, is bacteria lurking on your office desk? Well, here at Cleaning North West, we are Preston’s leading cleaning professionals. We provide a range of high quality, professional cleaning services to companies and businesses across Preston, and the surrounding area. As a result, we have produced this guide to the dangers of the office desk.
Is bacteria lurking on your office desk?
It might surprise you to know that there are more bacteria on your office desk, then there are on a n average toilet seat! In fact, this could be up to 400 times as many! There can be up to 500 different types of bacteria on your office desk, or even the keyboard, phone or office chair, at any one time. The types of bacteria can include:
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa- responsible for a range of infections in humans, including urinary tract infections, respiratory system infections, and most commonly, dermatitis.
- Staphylococcus aureus- bacterial staph. infections are fairly common, and these usually effect the respiratory system and the skin.
- Helicobacter pylori- this causes a range of intestinal issues and problems, and can even lead to stomach cancer.
What about viruses?
While its easy for scientists to find bacteria on every desk around the world, viruses can be more elusive. On surfaces, many types of viruses can live for around 3 days, waiting to infect another human host. And the desk is the perfect place to wait. The types of viruses present will depend on the type of virus one of your colleagues was initially infected with.
To keep your office clean and sanitized, to reduce employee absenteeism and improve health, get in touch with Preston’s leading cleaning team, here at Cleaning North West.