Why Frequent Office Cleaning is Important

For many, what you drag in on the bottom of your shoes is the last thing one thinks about when they walk into the office.

And yes, this article is going to take you down a path that you may not even think about – shoes.

“Paul you’re crazy…what do shoes have to do with anything.”

Absolutely everything.

You probably clean your shoes if you step into something muddy, dirty, or disgusting 😬. But when you get back to work, you don’t de-shoe at the front door, and of course, that’s normal. We don’t take our shoes off at work due to health and safety reasons.

But what you don’t know is that your shoes bring in an immense amount of dirty and other nasty contaminants into your office.

And what does this have to do with cleaning?

Well, at In-Tec we’re constantly asked by potential and existing clients about office cleaning frequency. This article will be discussing one of the many answers why regular office cleaning is critical – contaminates getting into your workplace via your shoes and hence why your office should be cleaned more often (a lot more than you think!).

And of course, when you’re at home, you should definitely be de-shoeing – it is best to leave your filth outside the door.

What contaminants are in your office, and how did they get there?

Did you know that people spend up to 90% of their time indoors?

That seems like a huge number. But if you think about it, we spend time indoors at work every single day and then head straight home which is also indoors!

Throughout this section, we’re going to be focusing on work done by Mark Patrick Taylor and Gabriel Filippelli who are environmental chemists. Their research examines indoor environments and the contaminants people are exposed to.

We may all think that dust and dirt from people are the main culprits building up inside our office.

But no, we couldn’t be more wrong.

About a third of it is from the outside, either blown in or tramped in by our dirty, contaminated shoes.

Taylor and Filippelli found, “some of the microorganisms present in shoes and floors are drug-resistant pathogens, including hospital-associated infectious agents (germs) that are very difficult to treat.”

And I cannot forget to mention the “cancer-causing toxins from asphalt road residue and endocrine-disrupting lawn chemicals.”

The researchers specifically focused on assessing levels of potentially toxic metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium) inside homes across 35 nations, including Australia. And although the research was conducted inside homes, there’s no doubt that the data can be transferred over to offices.

The science suggested that there is a very strong connection between the lead found inside a home to that in yard soil. Lead is categorised as a heavy metal and is a dangerous neurotoxin to humans and animals.

And how did it get from A to B?

You guessed it, from the bottom of your shoes and on the paws of your furry friends.

Now I know most offices don’t have pets, but you certainly have many if not hundreds of people walking through your office with contaminated shoes.

Wow, wow, and wow.

Who would’ve thought that everywhere we walk could contain so many toxins that can harm our bodies!

Can you see how the two – shoes and cleaning connect?

Let me give you a hint before we get into the next section.

Without having your office cleaned regularly, you’re continuously exposing yourself and your employees to all the above contaminants (and more!).

Can you see the justification for frequent office cleaning?

Of course, as we’ve said before, there’s just no way we could all start taking our shoes off as soon as we enter our office. Remember, health and safety.

But while we’re on the topic of health and safety, don’t you want your staff to be safe and healthy?

By conducting frequent office cleaning, you’ll be able to remove all dust, dirt, germs, and other harmful contaminants from your office floors.

It’s easy to believe that you could have your site cleaned once or twice a week. But it doesn’t work this way. Any commercial cleaning company will struggle to properly clean your site if you request minimal cleaning. Instead of removing all the nasty things you don’t want lying around, it’ll just get pushed around.

Why?

The dirt, dust, and germs continuously build up and up and up as the surfaces aren’t cleaned enough. To keep up with contaminate accumulation, your cleaner needs to clean your site at least 3 times a week (more if you’re a large company or work in manufacturing)!

You can also think about it this way.

If you have carpets in your office, all the contaminants listed above will just settle and bury into your carpet. Would you really want to leave all those harmful toxins in your carpet for an extended period of time?

A good commercial cleaning company will always recommend what’s best for your site regarding cleaning frequency. Because offices have constant foot traffic, they need to be cleaned regularly.

If you’re unsure how often your site should be cleaned, just schedule a call with the team at In-Tec. Or, take a look at our article on our Learning Centre How Often Should Your Workplace Be Cleaned? [Frequency + Guidelines].

How often should my office be cleaned?

We all know prevention is far better than the cure.

Dust and dirt can accumulate in offices from all sorts of things and shoes are certainly one of them.

Having regular office cleaning performed is a basic and easy prevention task many of us can implement in our workplace. As an idea, you want your office cleaned at least 3 days a week if you’re a small site, and 5 times or more if you’re a large site.

No one wants to work in an office that has toxins, pathogens, germs, and dirt lying around on the floor. You want to make sure your site is safe, and your staff are kept healthy from harmful contaminants. And the only way to do this is by having your office cleaned frequently.

If you want to get in touch with us to discuss this further, just schedule a call!

In the meantime, I recommend reading our article What Does Commercial Office Cleaning Include? [Task List + Definition].