Your office is dirtier than you realise: Here’s how to take action
In reality, many areas in an office are hotspots for bacteria, viruses and general grime.
15/07/2025
It’s fair to say that everybody likes a
productive and professional workspace – clean,
well-ventilated, aesthetically well-appointed
and with just the right feng shui to keep
everybody calm and motivated.
And while
your office can tick all those boxes, it may
still be dirty underneath the symmetrical
layouts, ergonomic furniture and strategically
placed, highly branded decor items.
A
quick glance might suggest a tidy environment
but neat is not a synonym for clean. In reality
many areas in an office are hotspots for
bacteria, viruses and general grime. During the
colder winter months, many offices see a
noticeable uptick in coughs, colds, and flu.
This isn't a coincidence. The combination of our
biology, the behaviour of viruses, and the
modern office environment creates a perfect
storm for germ transmission.
It’s
nobody’s fault per se - high volume areas are
naturally prone to filth and thus the spread of
germs. Understanding which are the
often-neglected zones in an office is the first
step in adopting a more proactive and pragmatic
approach to keeping it clean.
Your keyboard and mouse
No surprise here when you think about the number of times the keyboard and mouse are touched - your hands are constantly on these devices and they certainly carry the remnants of your lunch, to say the least.
It is also well documented that keyboards carry more bacteria than a toilet seat.
Here the onus is on the individual so make a point of cleaning your keyboard and mouse regularly. Every day would be ideal but it’s important to be realistic so start by committing to once a week.
Go about it by first turning the keyboard upside down to gently shake out any bits and pieces, like crumbs. Next, gently wipe over the keyboard with a soft, damp cloth.
Your desktop and work surfaces
The keyboard may be leading the charge when it comes to dirt but in reality the entire desktop surface is a repository for germs. Innocuous items like paper, pens and coffee mugs can transfer microbes.
Much like your kitchen counter
needs a thorough wipe after it’s been used, your
desk can also do with a daily wipe-down.
The
most effective way of curbing any potential
spread is to ensure everybody in the office
maintains the same standard of cleanliness,
which could be a hassle. Sweepsouth’s newly
launched Office Cleaning service is a great
solution for this. And it’s as simple as
selecting “Office Cleaning” on the Sweepsouth
website or app to get connected with a vetted
Sweepstar that knows their way around a thorough
office clean.
The office kitchen and communal breakroom
A culinary germfest, if you will. Even though a kitchen is a place in which to clean things, it can also be a hotbed of contamination – everything from the fridge door handle and coffee machine buttons to the microwave touchpad, to say nothing of spilled food and forgotten leftovers.
Here too regular deep-cleaning by a vetted professional like a SweepStar is about more than a clean kitchen - it’s the way to keep the peace between Lisa is HR, who always forgets her lunch in the fridge, and Thabo in accounts, who always complains about it to the ops guy on the second floor!
Door handles and light switches
Any high touch surfaces are also high risk surfaces. Door handles, and light switches are touched countless times a day and it’s safe to assume that not everybody maintains the same level of hand hygiene.
Many of the viruses that cause common winter illnesses, such as influenza and some coronaviruses, are better suited to the cold. The protective outer layer of these viruses becomes tougher and more durable in colder temperatures, which allows them to survive for longer periods on surfaces like doorknobs, keyboards, and kitchen counters, waiting for someone to pick them up.
The solution is as simple as wiping handles and switches down regularly but the reality is that everybody has things to do – their work – so outsourcing to a professional is, arguably, the best way to keep things clean and the culture intact.
The water cooler
Here’s a conversation worth having around the water cooler – how often is this object properly sanitised?
When you consider that nearly everybody uses the water cooler it makes sense that it would be a magnet for bacteria and viruses. A water cooler benefits from a combination of regular external cleaning and periodic deep cleaning of the internal components. Mild detergent on a soft cloth works for wiping down the outer parts while the inner parts can be cleaned with a solution of diluted bleach or white vinegar. It is crucial to rinse thoroughly before using it again.
SweepStars, booked via Sweepsouth’s Office Cleaning service, make light work of all of the above and more. The services can be tailored to match the needs of the specific office, and the Sweepstars are all vetted, neatly dressed and presentable professionals that know how to get the work done with minimal disruption to those in the office.
Ventilate regularly
In colder months, we seal our buildings shut. Windows are rarely opened, and office managers reduce the intake of fresh, cold air to save on heating costs. Most office ventilation systems then end up recirculating the same stale, indoor air. This means if one person is sick, the concentration of airborne viral particles in the shared air increases significantly, raising the risk for everyone. Researchers at the Wake Forest School of Medicine found that sneeze and cough particles can travel a distance of almost two metres. To infect someone else, these particles don’t have to be breathed in, they just have to get into any mucosal surface like your eyes, nose, or mouth, or land on often-touched surfaces such as desks and door handles.
Be aware of sitting in enclosed meeting rooms or working in close quarters for hours each day - sustained close contact provides ample opportunity for germs to jump from person to person. If possible, open a window for even 10-15 minutes a day to allow fresh air to circulate.
We spend so much time at work and ensuring that the office is a friendly, calm and clean environment can go a long way in boosting both productivity and morale.