Office high-touch areas proliferate germs, bacteria, and viruses, potentially leading to increased absenteeism and illnesses. Whether it’s a door handle or a shared desk, these touchpoints become triggers for various health issues. For this reason, managers and business owners must take proactive steps to ensure these areas are clean year-round, fostering a healthier, more collaborative work environment.
As a trusted provider of premium office cleaning solutions on the Gold Coast and nearby areas since 1999, we can help you identify these touchpoints and achieve these objectives. This blog explains the 10 high-touch areas that need regular cleaning, empowering you to take charge of your office surroundings and protect your employees’ health and well-being.
Key Takeaways
- High-touch surfaces in offices are hotspots for germs, bacteria, and viruses, and require frequent cleaning to reduce health risks.
- Regular sanitation of these areas helps minimise employee illness and absenteeism.
- Prioritising frequent cleaning supports a healthier, more productive, and comfortable workplace.
- Consistent cleaning helps extend the lifespan of office assets by preventing grime buildup and wear.
- Effective hygiene management demonstrates a business’s commitment to workplace safety and well-being.
High-Touch Area Cleaning Explained
High-touch areas are exteriors or objects that are touched frequently by many people daily. Consequently, these areas become breeding grounds for germs, bacteria, viruses, and other triggers of health issues.
For this reason, high-touch cleaning aims to disinfect these areas thoroughly to prevent the spread of germs. Frequent cleaning significantly minimises the risk of illnesses, increased absenteeism, and lower productivity.
Efficient high-touch area cleaning fosters a pristine, healthier, and collaborative workplace. It prevents daily wear and tear, grime buildup, and surface degradation, extending the lifespan of office equipment and other assets.
Regular cleaning also encourages employees to maintain immaculate surroundings and practise consistent hygiene. Your employees are more likely to feel safe, comfortable, and cared for when they see regular high-touch office area cleaning.
Finally, high-touch office area cleaning supports workplace health and safety standards, compliance, and best practices. Investing in this cleaning service shows your commitment to proactive hygiene management.
The 10 Most Common High-Touchpoint Areas in the Office
Ensuring a pristine, healthy, and productive workplace starts with identifying the most common high-touchpoint areas. Regular sanitation and disinfection significantly reduce health risks, fostering healthier, collaborative, and satisfying workplace conditions.
- Door Fixtures
Door knobs and handles are a common high-touchpoint area in the office. Employees, clients, and visitors going in and out of the office touch door fixtures, leaving germs and bacteria on them, especially with dirty hands.
We recommend using a disinfectant wipe or spraying them once daily to prevent this scenario and enjoy peace of mind.
- Light Switches
Similar to door fixtures, light switches experience frequent contact from multiple sources daily. Whether it’s in the kitchen, bathroom, common areas, or meeting rooms, these fixtures can accrue smudges, dirt, and bacteria over time. Worse, many offices neglect regular light switch cleaning, exacerbating the situation.
Use a microfibre cloth or disinfecting wipes to sanitise light switches daily and ensure a germ-free workplace.
- Collaborative Workspaces
Shared desks or workstations become breeding grounds for germs, bacteria, and viruses. Worse, frequent use and touching of keyboards, mice, chairs, and phones can easily transfer these triggers.
Use non-volatile organic compounds (non-VOC), plant-based, or biodegradable cleaners for collaborative workspaces to minimise health risks and lower environmental impact. Microfibre cloths, steam cleaners, and electrostatic disinfection are effective strategies for cleaning these high-touch areas.
- Computer Keyboards and Mice
Computer keyboards and mice are at the heart of many business operations. Whether it’s a digital marketing agency, a busy newsroom, or a co-working space, these high-touch areas become smudged, sticky, and dirty due to frequent use. Hence, they can accumulate germs, bacteria, and various disease triggers.
We recommend using disinfectant wipes to sanitise your computer mice and keyboards, especially the areas between keys, which can trap dirt and bacteria.
- Office Phones and Audio Equipment
Managers and employees constantly use phones, headsets, speakers, and audio equipment to communicate with co-workers and clients daily. These high-touch areas can easily proliferate germs and bacteria in the workplace.
Encourage your employees to use antibacterial wipes or sprays on the body of the phone and audio equipment to achieve optimal results.
- Kitchen and Communal Area Surfaces
Common office kitchen equipment, such as coffee makers, kettles, microwave ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers, and toasters, can accumulate germs and bacteria. Employees frequently use these items, making frequent cleaning critical to a healthy workplace.
An experienced, highly skilled office cleaner can disinfect and sanitise kitchen and communal area surfaces, ensuring a pristine, safe, and productive work environment.
- Bathroom Faucets and Handles
The bathroom is another high-traffic, frequently used space with several high-touch areas, including faucets and handles. Infrequent cleaning and negligence can increase germs and bacteria, which is why regular sanitation and disinfection are essential to a healthy office environment.
Your contractor will disinfect faucets, door handles, and toilet flush handles several times daily to eliminate germs, contaminants and triggers of various health issues.
- Lift Buttons
Businesses operating in high-rise structures often use lifts, which can harbour germs, bacteria, and contaminants in lift buttons. Similar to light switches, lift buttons are a hotspot for these triggers because numerous people use them daily.
We recommend wiping down lift buttons with disinfecting wipes several times daily and at regular intervals to deliver long-term peace of mind.
- Copy Machines and Printers
Whether it’s copying or printing documents, employees operate this equipment several times daily. Sanitise their control panels, buttons, and surfaces with disinfecting wipes to eliminate germs, bacteria, and allergens.
- Work Chairs
Employees frequently touch the armrests and backs of office chairs multiple times throughout the day. Hence, they can harbour oil, sweat, grease, and smudge over time.
Use disinfecting wipes or cloth to clean office chairs, remove these to eliminate these contaminants and make your workplace pristine and unblemished.
Recommended Procedures for High-Touch Office Area Cleaning
These cleaning tips ensure your high-touch areas remain immaculate year-round:
- Clean frequently: Clean high-touchpoint areas, such as lift buttons, light switches, flush handles, and keyboards, several times daily. Prioritise high-traffic areas, such as kitchens, bathrooms, meeting rooms, and breakrooms. We recommend cleaning these areas twice daily at regular intervals for optimal results.
- Use appropriate cleaning supplies: Many high-touch surfaces, including lift buttons, keyboards, and light switches, require disinfectant wipes. Use only non-volatile organic compounds (non-VOC), plant-based, or non-toxic cleaning supplies that protect your employees’ health and well-being.
- Prioritise essential surfaces: Door handles, light switches, keyboards, kitchen equipment, bathroom fixtures, and shared desks often harbour the most germs and bacteria. Therefore, prioritise them in your cleaning list to prevent contamination and ensure a healthy workplace.
- Encourage employee involvement: Office cleaning requires the collaboration of cleaners and employees to achieve optimal results. Encourage your staff to clean shared equipment and workspaces regularly to maintain a pristine work environment.
- Invest in weekly deep cleaning: Regular cleaning isn’t enough to eliminate stubborn contaminants from your office. Consider weekly deep cleaning of high-touch areas to ensure they remain bacteria- and germ-free year-round.
Conclusion
Neglecting high-touch areas, such as door fixtures, light switches, collaborative workspaces, computer keyboards and mice, audio equipment, communal area surfaces, bathroom faucets and handles, copy machines, printers, and office chairs, can compromise the health, well-being, and job satisfaction of your employees.
Regular, consistent sanitation, disinfection, and deep cleaning deliver a high return on investment, ensuring a healthy and productive workplace.
Take that first step in an unblemished office today. Since 1999, Oz Commercial Cleaning has empowered numerous businesses on the Gold Coast and nearby areas with premium office cleaning solutions that fit their budgets.
Book an appointment to receive a personalised quotation, arrange an on-site inspection, and experience premium office cleaning solutions that deliver long-term results.
