Have you ever brought your phone to the toilet?

Truth is, most of us are guilty! The thing about pocket technology is that it goes where ever you go, including the toilet. Maybe you leave it on top of the paper towel dispenser or just put it near the sink – either way, your phone is getting covered in bacteria.  What is especially unsanitary about it is how close you put it to your face and mouth on a regular basis. Remember, your phone is exposed to everything you touch. You might wash your hands all the time but that is not always enough.

Sure, you wash your hands after using the bathroom, but how often do you wipe down your phone? Did you know that the build-up of bacteria on your phone could be giving you acne or causing blackheads to develop on your face? Or worse, it can get you sick. The germs on your phone can be as harmful as E.Coli, Staph, and MRSA. However, we still rarely remember to disinfect our phones or phone cases. If you live in a warm place like Australia, the warmth will facilitate the spread of bacteria, along with your phone warming up as you use it.

While it is unlikely that reading this will make you keep your phone out of the toilet or kitchen – we hope this will remind you to keep it a little cleaner. Just keep in mind how many things you touch during the day, and how filthy your phone can get as a result of that. Practice washing your hands frequently throughout the day but remember to give your phone a daily wipe down with some disinfecting wipes just as often.

Oh and don’t forget to change your phone cover and screen protector every couple of months too!

We all know the obvious places where you expect to find germs and bacteria. The floor, door handles, and the toilet seat are all an easy guess, but we have listed some more unexpected areas that you might be surprised aren’t as clean as you might think.

1. Your mobile
Chances are that you take your mobile phone with you everywhere you go, some people can’t even go to the toilet without taking their phone. All of the germs on the things we touch throughout the day such as door handles, shopping trolleys, and fuel pumps – get transferred to our phones the instant we pick them up. We use our phones while eating on our lunch break, meaning food residue can get on our phones. We might wash our hands after we eat, but we pick up the same dirty mobile phone!
We suggest wiping down your phone on a regular basis!

2. Your belt buckle
This is not your typical item that is considered to contain a lot of germs. However, your belt is usually the first thing that you touch when you go to the bathroom! So make sure that, much like your mobile phone, you give your belt a regular wipe down, especially the buckle.

3. Your water bottle
Refilling your plastic water bottle might seem like the convenient thing to do. Reusing a plastic water bottle can do much more harm than good. Reusing plastic bottles once or twice can be okay given that the bottle is washed after every use with warm soapy water. However, overuse can cause build-up of various bacteria

4. Your office kitchen

It is really important that everyone cleans up after themselves in the office. Communal kitchens can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Simple things like resealing food in containers, checking the fridge for food that is going off, covering food in the microwave and wiping down the benches can make a huge difference in maintaining the hygiene standards in your office kitchen.

5. The office water cooler
Many offices have water coolers, but can they make you sick? Studies show that shared water coolers can be an easy way for germs & bacteria to spread across the office. That means that an annoying cough your co-worker is experiencing could soon become your cough! To prevent this from happening, it is a good idea to wipe down the tap at the end of each day.

6. Your handbag

Your handbag is another offender for gathering germs and bacteria. If you take the bus or train to work every day, you probably place your bag on the bench next to you. Handbags are also often placed on floors and chairs in public areas.

Instead of placing your bag on floors try to use a hook whenever there is one available. If there are none available and you are traveling, it might be better to keep your handbag on your lap.

Maintaining a clean workplace is not always the easiest task, especially in a busy office or showroom. That being said, it is worthwhile investing in cleaning services and products which prevent the spread of germs. The office is often a breeding ground for the common cold, especially during the colder months. Keep your employee’s flu free by taking control of your commercial hygiene.

It’s impossible to be completely bacteria free, but you can try and take steps towards a cleaner, healthier workplace.

So, how do you keep your workplace clean as a whistle?

If you work in an office – sanitizing wipes are a great way to quickly and effortlessly clean up your work station. The great thing about these types of wipes is that they are individually packaged so it means you can carry them in your pocket or purse. They are also very easy to dispose of. If you have a company car – especially one that you might share, it is a good idea to wipe down the steering wheel every occasionally.

The staff kitchen can host a variety of germs and daily wipe down of the benches usually isn’t enough. Don’t forget to wipe down any handles and cupboards with hot water on a regular basis. Fridges should be completely emptied out to check for any rotten or expired food that someone might have forgotten to eat. Coffee machines also cause a fair bit of mess and the area should be cleaned very thoroughly.

Other commonly used items such as printers, scanners, even coffee machines & microwaves tend to be a place where bacteria are built up. These sorts of areas need to be cleaned everyday– not just wiped down.

Other than spreading awareness of the threats of an unhygienic workplace, you need to make sure that your employees have everything they need to keep the spread of germs, dust, and bacteria from spreading everywhere. The obvious place to start is the staff bathrooms. Ensuring they are well stocked with paper towels, hand dryers and soap means that everyone can wash their hands. Soap commonly runs out quickly so it is important that you have enough stock to keep the dispensers full during the working week. Luckily Rapid Hygiene can help with that with our wide range of soap and paper towel dispensers.

To sort out your office hygiene why not have a chat with one of our friendly Rapid Hygiene team members? Call us on 1800 92 77 92