The growing importance of cleaning in the workplace

For the fifth and final part of the ‘Return To Work safely’ series, we address the growing importance of cleanliness at work, what procedures should be adopted to reduce risks, and the products that are available to support you and your employees.

Keeping up appearances

As a general rule, our workstations should be kept clean and tidy to reduce the risk of injury. For example, if you work in an office, any wires or other trip hazards should be addressed immediately. But now, as we must consider Covid-19, a simple dusting or tidy is no longer sufficient. It’s time for a deep clean.

Before we consider re-entering the workplace, site assessments and new cleaning procedures should be introduced to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of your employees. It’s been highlighted that well-ventilated areas are best to operate in, if we are to reduce transmission risks, but while you have been absent, your air conditioning system would have been getting clogged up with dirt and dust. Therefore, we advised on checking out its condition before recommencing operation.

How often should I clean?

In short, as often as you can. Frequent cleaning should be encouraged across all areas of your facility, from the office to the storeroom, and to help support you and your employees, we have selected a range of critical cleaning products available from stock in the Working Safely Brochure or by contacting your local ERIKS Service Centre.

Adopting a planned regime, that ensures the cleaning of all frequently touched surfaces such as desks and tables, is a great way to ensure your workspace is maintained to the necessary standards. We also advise restricting workspaces to single person use to avoid any transmission risks.

These cleaning processes should also be implemented for your desk equipment such as monitors, keyboards, telephones and stationery, as well as door handles and furniture with a range of products available in the Working Safely Brochure. 

At ERIKS, we have implemented a set of new protocols which will help reduce transmission risks and increase safety. These include: no hotdesking; limiting the amount of people on site at any given time will be essential to reducing risk; no holding doors open for colleagues. We understand that this goes against our greater nature, but heavily touched surfaces are a major holding point for contamination; and no sharing of stationary such as pens, highlighters or any other items. These may only sound like small steps, but you must ensure that all bases are covered if your reintegration process is to run with the lowest level of risk.

We also suggest emptying any rubbish bins regularly. If you are unsure of disposal procedures, speak with your manager who will advise on how to correctly dispose of any rubbish or waste.

On the move

Our vehicles, whether fleet or personal, are also part of our working environment. You would be surprised how much time is spent travelling. Although, at this current time, the UK Government has advised against carpooling, we must maintain the cleanliness of our vehicles. Take a few moments each day to wipe down the surfaces of your vehicle to ensure maximum cleanliness.

Contactless delivery

Deliveries pose further transmission risks, therefore it’s imperative that you only handle products while wearing gloves and wipe down all boxes and packaging with cleaning sprays or sanitiser before opening. ERIKS has adopted a contactless delivery system to ensure the safe delivery of products. For more information, please contact your local Service Centre. 

Regardless of industry, returning to work is without doubt going to be a long and complex scenario, with multiple considerations that must be addressed. Moving forward, we all must take an active role in ensuring that any return will be one with maximum safety and minimal disruption. If you would like to know more about how ERIKS can support you in this process, please contact your local Service Centre or speak with one of our MRO & Safety Equipment specialists on 0121 508 6000. We are here to support you every step of the way.