Should You Get Your Office Disinfected?
The COVID-19 pandemic has barely slowed and is still a large concern in many communities. This makes it all the more important to take precautions and keep spaces disinfected. In uncertain times, it is important to take as many precautions as possible. When working in an office building, especially with many people, there are several reasons to consider getting the building disinfected.
What Does Disinfecting an Office Include?
Many of us know that it is important to wipe down surfaces in an office environment; however, it is necessary to take several precautions and be detailed in the disinfecting process to ensure that the job gets done right. Without considering all the proper steps, it is easy to overlook important aspects of the process and miss out on being as effective as possible.
When disinfecting an office, you should target all high-traffic areas and surfaces to best prevent pathogens from one individual to another. These include countertops, tables, doorknobs, railings, elevator buttons, phones and shared workspaces. It’s also important to choose the right disinfecting service. This is not an exhaustive list, so you should consider which objects or spaces have high contact between multiple individuals. Look around the office space and note high-traffic areas to ensure that all of the important surfaces and objects are disinfected regularly.
It is also important to note that there is a difference between cleaning and disinfecting. Cleaning products may not always disinfect surfaces and can leave harmful viruses or bacteria behind. Meanwhile, not all disinfectant products adequately clean away dirt and dust. Many products are capable of doing both, but it is important to read the label to ensure that is the case. Both cleaning and disinfecting are important, and you should do each regularly.
Reasons to Have the Office Disinfected
With the threat of COVID-19, it is necessary to be extremely aware of the health and safety of yourself and those around you. It is a good idea to disinfect your office frequently no matter what, but in the following cases, you should strongly consider doing so.
Someone Has Gotten Sick
If a staff member has recently gotten sick, you should certainly disinfect the office. An individual is capable of spreading the virus 48 hours before demonstrating symptoms. If the individual has been in the office during that period, it is crucial to clean and disinfect the areas they occupied to protect other members of the office.
Someone Can Carry a Virus Without Knowing
Many individuals who are responsible for spreading COVID-19 or other pathogens may never know they have it. It is common for individuals to be carriers for a virus without ever showing symptoms, making it important to take precautions, even when nobody is visibly sick.
High Rates of Transmission in Your Community
If COVID-19, or even the flu, is spreading rapidly in your community, you should clean and disinfect the office more frequently than usual. If this is the case, staff members in the office are likely interacting with individuals with the virus more frequently outside the office, creating a higher risk for carrying the virus into the space. It is also possible that suppliers or visitors to the space can be carriers as well.
Higher Risk Individuals in the Office
At this point, it is known that COVID-19 can affect anyone and can have very negative effects regardless of age or health background. However, it is still true that it affects vulnerable populations more heavily. If there is someone in the office space that is immunocompromised or at a higher risk for the virus due to a health condition, it is even more important to disinfect the office carefully and protect them against the virus.
Disinfecting an office frequently is the best way to avoid the spread of pathogens and keep everyone in the space healthy. If any of these cases apply to your office building, you should take steps to have the office disinfected right away to protect everyone in the building.
Take the Steps Toward a Safer Office Building
Ultimately, it is a good idea to have the office disinfected meticulously and regularly to keep you and your employees safe and healthy. Pathogens, and specifically COVID-19, can remain on a surface for weeks at a time, so it is important to disinfect frequently and kill harmful viruses, even if you do not immediately suspect them.
Office disinfecting is a necessary step to take in our current times, and it must be done right to have the best results. Taking the right steps to ensure that the office is cleaned and disinfected carefully will go a long way, so take action to get your office disinfected today in New Orleans.