Cultivating a cleaner workplace doesn’t just improve health and safety, it can boost your productivity too. We regularly see workplaces struggle with keeping on top of their office cleanliness, particularly when we audit new clients as part of our office cleaning service.
If you want to streamline your workspace and maintain an industrious and efficient office, try these top tips today, and also be sure to check out our ultimate office cleaning guide.
1. Encourage recycling
Companies are under increasing amounts of pressure to embrace environmentally-friendly processes, and embracing office recycling is just one way to get started.
By having a designated recycling area, you’ll encourage employees to dispose of containers properly, which will have the added effect of ensuring the office stays clean and tidy.
2. Provide adequate storage
If there’s not enough space to store everything you need, it won’t take long for your office to look untidy and messy. Whether you’re working in a private office or running an open plan workspace, ensure there are adequate storage facilities.
Modular storage can be great for the workplace because you can add to it whenever you need to. Furthermore, modular storage options are typically easy to move around and realign, so you can modify your workspace depending on current projects, larger workforces and the amount of equipment you have.
3. Make it easy to access equipment
Depending on your industry, you may have a range of machinery or equipment in the office. Although you’ll need to store it somewhere safe, you’ll also need to ensure that employees can access the relevant equipment regularly.
If getting to machinery requires moving boxes or unpacking full cupboards, you’ll find that everything will be strewn around in no time.
To ensure the office remains tidy, group equipment together based on how and when it will be used. If people routinely use a binding machine following printing, for example, ensure there’s a handy table-top binder next to the printer, for example. By storing equipment strategically, you can minimise disruption and cultivate a clean office.
4. Streamline your office
If your office is full equipment that is no longer used or you’re keeping old client files on-site, look for ways to de-clutter. Sell or donate equipment you no longer need, and determine whether the equipment you have is really necessary. If you have a printer with a scan feature, for example, you may be able to get rid of a separate scanner. I
f you’re required to keep client files for a specified period of time, look into secure file storage options. Moving files off-site can free up office space and create a more minimalist and tidier working environment.
5. Hire a great cleaning company
Most offices require professional cleaning, and hiring great contract cleaning company can be a worthwhile investment.
For a relatively small outlay, you can ensure your workplace remains clean and tidy at all times. Whether you have daily or weekly office cleaning, a professional touch will go a long way in making your office a happier, cleaner and more productive place to work.
6. Embrace a clean-desk policy
When people work at one desk on a daily basis, they may start to leave personal items around. Whether it’s a framed photograph of their family, their favourite office mug or biscuits to snack on throughout the day, it doesn’t take long for clutter to build up.
As well as making the office look untidy, it can make it more difficult to clean too. You can’t expect office cleaners to remove and replace items from desks, so implement a ‘clean-desk’ policy and ensure employees remove non-essential items from their workspace.
7. Create an office cleaning checklist
As well as maintaining individual desks, you may want employees to take responsibility for communal areas. If so, an office cleaning checklist can be a great way to ensure accountability.
As well as reminding colleagues what’s expected of them in terms of maintaining a hygienic working environment, an office cleaning checklist will give you an easy way to ensure that everything has been done.
8. Invest in cable tidies
Most offices have an array of technical equipment. From heavy-duty industry-specific machines to laptops, PCs, printers, scanners, fans and copiers, it’s likely your office is filled with electrical items. Of course, these will require cables so that they can be plugged into a mains outlet, and many of these products have additional cables to hook up to other hardware.
If you’re using a PC, for example, you’ll have a power cable to both your screen and your tower, as well as cables running to and from the tower, keyboard, screen and mouse in order to connect them all together.
Although they’re necessary, numerous cables can look untidy, and they pick up a lot of dust too. What’s more – unruly cables can be a tripping hazard, so they’re particularly dangerous in busy workplaces. Invest in cable tidies to improve safety and increase cleanliness, and ensure staff use them at all times.
9. Use antibacterial wipes
However clean you try to be, the facts show that your office is probably teeming with germs. Keyboards, mice, touchscreens and telephones are breeding grounds for bacteria, so regular use of antibacterial wipes should be encouraged.
As well as ensuring your office is clean, wipes will kill bacteria and help to prevent the spread of viruses and illnesses. By improving health and safety in the workplace, you may even see a reduction in employee absence and health issues.
10. Provide suitable eating areas
Office staff routinely eat their lunch and snacks at their desk, which isn’t great for promoting office hygiene. As well as leaving lingering smells around all afternoon, allowing food to be consumed in the office can attract unwanted pests, such as mice and rats.
However, you’ll need to provide a suitable recreational area if you want your employees to stop eating at their desks. A kitchenette or social room is a great way to encourage staff to take a break and step away from their desks when they’re hungry.
As well as helping your colleagues to take regular breaks, banning eating in the office is one of the quickest ways to promote office cleanliness and hygiene.
Hopefully these tips will help you on your journey to not only making your office clean and tidy, but keeping it tidy too. Fore more information regarding office cleaning tips and what a team of cleaners can do for your business, get in touch with our cleaning experts at SMC Premier today on 0161 282 6444.
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