Do I Need to Disinfect My Office?

One of the most frequent questions that we get at Monita Janitorial is whether people should disinfect their offices.  The answer to that question is almost always yes, though there are a few circumstances where the answer is no.  Generally, offices are full of high-touch surfaces such as doorknobs and handles, phones, light switches, bathroom faucets, and desks.  These may be touched by multiple people, which greatly increases the risk that viruses and bacteria will be transmitted on the surface.  This is even more likely if your office contains items like point-of-sale keypads. 

The first question to consider is whether your office has been occupied in the last week.  If your office has not been occupied for 7 or more days, it does not to be disinfected and it can simply have a routine cleaning.  Some people assume if an office has only had a single occupant, then there is no need for disinfection, but unless a person effectively sanitizes themselves prior to each and every time they enter the office, offices can harbor infectious germs. 

It is important to realize that cleaning and disinfecting are not the same thing.  Prior to disinfecting an office, surfaces need to be cleaned with soap and water to remove visible dirt and grime.  Then, disinfectants that are designed to be used on hard surfaces can be used effectively to clean the surfaces.  There are also products that we can use to disinfect your soft surfaces, though laundering is the preferred method for disinfecting soft surfaces, when it is possible. 

Regularly disinfecting an office seems to be one of the keys to helping slow the spread of COVID-19 and is probably helpful at helping slow the spread of other diseases, as well.  At Monita Janitorial, we can provide regular disinfecting services, but you may also want to incorporate routine disinfection as part of your daily maintenance routine.  This means hitting high-touch areas with disinfectants and possibly disinfecting some items, such as pens, between uses by different customers or clients.  Washrooms, kitchens, and other common areas should be disinfected frequently, and all employees and customers should be encouraged to wear masks properly fitting over their mouth and nose, wash hands frequently, and socially distance.  In addition, keeping hand sanitizer available for use can encourage employees and customers to use it to help disinfect their hands.