Whether your business runs from a restaurant or an office, cleanliness is essential to a well-functioning work environment. Poor hygiene can lead to employees getting sick more often or accidents happening more frequently. It can also tank morale, leading to a drastic drop in productivity. Furthermore, if your business deals with customers on-site, a dirty storefront or interior could easily deter any potential customers.

While the consequences are immense, there are ways to address this issue. Engaging with commercial cleaning services is an excellent way to improve workplace cleanliness tremendously, but you will need to ensure that your business complements them with appropriate hygiene practices.

To keep a working environment clean, you need to engage with the people who are using the space the most, your employees. You and your employees must address the problem of your establishment getting dirtier over time before it gets out of hand. Creating a culture of cleanliness in the workplace can best accomplish this. Here are some simple ways you get help your employees keep the workplace clean.

1. Encourage frequent handwashing

This is especially pertinent before and after eating or using the washroom. While this principle is a no-brainer for F&B establishments, it certainly applies to office environments as well. The last thing you want is for workers to start touching their keyboards with dirty fingers, where germs, dust and food particles can get trapped between the keys.

2. Food must be consumed in the pantry

Having no food at the worktable reduces the likelihood of scattering food on the tables or floor. While this may seem like a trivial matter initially, small crumbs can build up over time and add to the accumulation of dust and bacteria.

3. Facilitate safe waste disposal practices

When unfinished food and empty beverage packaging is disposed of inappropriately, it can attract insects and rodents. A foul odour will also begin to form if the food starts to rot. Place easily accessible rubbish bins outside the workplace or in the pantry, then instruct employees to use those for food containers or leftover food. In tandem, you can instruct employees to clear the rubbish bins daily so that the food does not turn into a breeding ground for pests and bacteria.

4. Encourage tidy workstations

The onus of individual workstation cleanliness lies on the employees. Dirt can easily accumulate behind unmoved stacks of paper or behind untouched computer monitors. It would be optimal to require employees to clean (or sanitise) their workstations at least weekly, or even daily for front-line staff like receptionists. However, it would not be an efficient use of time for employees, nor do they have the expertise, to handle the most labour-intensive cleaning like floor carpet maintenance and hi-dusting. Stay on top of your workplace cleanliness by hiring commercial cleaning specialists such as SQ1 Development. Our experienced cleaners use advanced cleaning techniques with eco-friendly supplies to maintain the upkeep of your commercial space.

5. Place doormats at entryways

People can bring in dirt from their clothes and shoes as they walk into your establishment, which can result in dirt and dust accumulation. A simple way to minimise the amount of dust coming in from wind or the shoes of employees is to place doormats at the entrances. As they walk past the mat, it will trap dirt and get rid of any of the bigger particles that are attached to their shoes.

As you can see, keeping the workplace clean must be a combined effort. In addition to commercial cleaning services, employees and company policy must reflect hygienic practices. While it may initially seem inconvenient to put such measures into place, the benefits to company morale and productivity are not to be downplayed. To keep your company’s workplaces clean and keep productivity high, engage the services of an experienced professional cleaning company like SQ1 Development. Let us do the most challenging cleaning for you.