The COVID-19 pandemic has already changed a lot of things in our country and all throughout the world. Whether your life changed drastically, or it was left relatively unscathed, it’s clear that there are a lot of lessons to be learned from this altogether-unpleasant virus that has swept through the world.

One of the biggest lessons to be learned is the way that we keep our facilities clean. While many workplaces are fairly cognizant about the dangers of spreading contagious diseases, the bottom line is society, for the most part, just wasn’t being careful enough. Most public spaces didn’t even have a good defense for the common cold — it’s just something we dealt with in waves because it wasn’t bad enough to cause serious problems. And, as schools, businesses, and public areas began to shut down, there’s something that became overwhelmingly clear: we need to take cleanliness more seriously.

This couldn’t be more true than in an office. Offices are one of the biggest hot-spots for infection, because people tend to be packed together pretty closely. Many areas, appliances, and items are touched by just about everyone inside, and commercial HVAC systems circulate air through the building all day — air that can sometimes be contaminated with contagions, allergens, irritants, and more.

With offices opening up soon in countless states, it’ll be important to take extra care that we don’t allow for germs to spread. This is not only true during COVID-19, but for all times. The fewer sick employees you have, the more your business can thrive. Here are some ways to prevent the spread of germs in your office:

Maintain a Healthy Supply of Hand Sanitizer

While it’s a bit more difficult to find en masse right now, it’s a good long-term goal to supply your office with hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer shouldn’t be an alternative to good old-fashioned soap and water, but it does do a great job at eliminating most germs. In office spaces, tens to hundreds of workers share the same surfaces. Kitchen areas are frequently dined on, papers are picked up from printers, and everybody will be sure to fit in some water cooler gossip during the day.

If nobody washed their hands between these interactions, you’re looking at several repeated opportunities for multiple people to contract germs. And on the other hand, if every single person used hand sanitizer before and after, there’s an extremely low chance that even one person would become infected. Case in point — hand sanitizer and offices are a good combination!

Reduce Personnel In the Office

Of the many huge changes that this pandemic has introduced into society, working from home is one that’s likely to remain for the foreseeable future. Many offices are finding that their employees can, in fact, do their work at home. It can be nerve wracking sending your employees home, but for the most part, numbers have been pretty good across the board — many employees are happier and more productive at home, and it can also be a great way to save money.

That being said, we’re not going to tell you how to run your business. It’s likely you’ve already considered or implemented work from home policies already without us telling you to do so. But ultimately, the numbers are clear — this is a model that verifiably reduces the spread of contagion. Even if you’re not in a position to allow working from home en masse, it might be good to at least reconsider your sick policies. If people have the option to work remotely when they’re sick (or risking the possibility of becoming sick), you can greatly curb the infection rate. This, of course, will be extremely important as offices reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but even after this all blows over, any office could benefit from fewer common cold outbreaks.

Clean the Air Ducts

With many offices shut down, there’s no better time than now to get the air ducts professionally cleaned. This is a great way to get a fresh start for your office building, because it eliminates a tremendous amount of contaminants that may otherwise circulate through your building.

The thing about commercial HVAC systems is that they’re large, complex, and they supply airflow that supports hundreds or even thousands of people inside a single space. There are a lot of moving parts, and you can bet with natural wear-and-tear, there is stuff that gets into your air.

At Blink Facility Solutions, we know all about the dangers of poor indoor air quality. As a commercial cleaning company with years of experience, we’ll tell you right now that your air ducts are probably dirtier than you’re giving them credit for.

Perform an Office Building Deep Clean

Any office benefits from a regular commercial cleaning company performing routine services (more on that below), but there is also a lot to be gained from a one-time deep clean. This is especially true for periods such as right now, where the office has been closed for a while and is set to reopen. Deep cleaning is difficult when you’re operating as normal; some deep cleaning jobs are carried out much more easily when you don’t have to worry about having everything in its proper place for the next workday.

We’d be happy to offer deep cleaning services for your office building or commercial facility in Charlotte and the surrounding areas. As specialists in cleaning large facilities such as offices, we have a unique cleaning checklist for every single type of building, so you’re getting a specialized experience from the start. Furthermore, we’ll tool with our cleaning process even more to meet the needs of your specific building. Deep cleans provide a “fresh start” for business- and homeowners alike, and there’s never been a better time to get one than now.

Regular Office Building Cleaning Services

Our last point is a pretty obvious one — office buildings aren’t going to clean themselves. Sure, you could ostensibly handle the cleaning needs of your four-person tax accounting office, but your nationally recognized marketing firm with hundreds of employees is going to take a lot more work. Don’t leave routine cleaning to yourself, or even worse, your employees.

Regular office cleaning helps to prevent germs because all those little things that can experience germ buildups are cleaned before they become problematic. Remember what we mentioned above about everyone touching the same kitchen counters? In an ideal world, people would wash their hands and use sanitizer, and that would be the end of that. But in reality, it’s often too much to expect large groups of people to exercise preventative behavior. This will hopefully change as we become more socially aware due to the pandemic, but in the meantime, office cleaning services can do a lot to ensure that germs aren’t spread all over the office.

Commercial Cleaning Services In Charlotte and Surrounding Areas

Are you in need of industrial cleaning services in Charlotte or other nearby cities? Blink Facility Solutions is the leading cleaning company in North and South Carolina. We can ensure that your office is in ship-shape when it opens up back to employees soon, and aside from that, we can provide excellent routine services that will always leave your commercial building or office space feeling spotless. Contact us today to get started.