Can a keyboard really have more germs than a toilet seat?

A good office cleaning company doesn’t simply clean to a good visual standard. We must advise our clients as to where cleaning time can be used most effectively in order to support the daily running of their business. On a similar note as to our article posted on 7/12/11 regarding desk germs here we want to provide some brief points on the importance of key board cleaning.

Key boards can harbour more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat research by ‘Which?’ has claimed. ‘Which?’ swabbed 33 keyboards, 4 were regarded as a potential health hazard and one harboured 5 times more germs than a toilet seat found in the same office which equates to 150 times the recommended limit for bacteria.

Microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson said that a keyboard is ‘’a reflection of what is in your nose and gut’’. Mr Wilson added ‘’Should someone have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you’re very likely to pick it up from a keyboard’’.

The main causes of high levels of bacteria were mainly from poor hand hygiene and staff eating their lunch at their desks.

As the cost of rental space in London increases more and more offices are adopting a Hot Desk policy where they able to minimise the number of desks by staff simply turning up and using an available desk. This is a great saving on the per square foot rent however some of our clients can have up to 10 staff a day using the same desks. One persons cold can easily be passed on to all of these staff with the cost in sick days far outweighing the cost of keeping these keyboards clean.

Our suggestions for prevention are:

1: Ensure staff eat away from their keyboards and wash hands after meals.

2: Promote hand hygiene following toilet breaks.

3: Provide sanitising sachets for staff to wipe the keys before use. 4: Have regular professional cleaning with the frequency dependent on usage