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Office parks accommodate a large number of employees - making health and sanitation standards a cri... 

Office parks accommodate a large number of employees - making health and sanitation standards a critical aspect to consider. You can trust that "the Sanitech way" is a fast-track guarantee to a safer office environment. 

The basic principles of good hygiene practices

The most basic principles of good hygiene are:

• Wash your hands after visiting the toilet;
• Wash your hands before handling food or eating;
• Wash your hands after taking care of sick people;
• Wash your hands after touching surfaces;
• Wash your hands after sneezing or coughing.

Even before the Covid pandemic, these were all inherent values some people may not have practised but knew. The Corona outbreak was an unfortunate but necessary reminder of these principles, and for a while, particularly in 2020, good hygiene was top of our priorities.

We weren't allowed to enter any building without applying sanitiser. We all took caution to thoroughly wash our hands after touching any object simply because we could not know who may have handled it before us.

Fast forward to the present: how many buildings have you entered today, and how many of them still have sanitiser by the entrance? Only a few, if any. We have, yet again, become lax about our hygiene. This notion is at our peril because Covid and many other airborne diseases still exist.

Ailments such as the common cold, tuberculosis (TB), meningitis, and many others can spread through a direct or indirect form of transmission, depending on the germ involved. These diseases existed long before the pandemic and have remained a threat.

Thus, neglecting your hygiene is a short-sight and may further exacerbate an already tragic event in our lifetime. To avoid contracting these illnesses, we must keep taking caution and continue practising good hygiene; twenty seconds of scrubbing your hands with soap and water is a small price to pay for your health and safety.

How to achieve consistent health and safety standards

To achieve consistent and effective personal health and safety, we must be able to identify, assess and reduce or manage potential risks. Washing our hands may not guarantee that we stay healthy, but it is a good and viable place to start.
Unfortunately, personal health is not controlled by law. However, employers are responsible for ensuring their employees' health and safety. Therefore, they are in an ideal position to enforce health protocols in the workplace.

"The Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1993 requires the employer to bring about and maintain, as far as reasonably practicable, a work environment that is safe and without risk to the health of the workers."

Due to this Act, employers do not have the freedom to neglect the health of their employees as the workers may have. Employers are legally obligated to protect workers' health and safety against hazards, and there are notably many.

Office spaces are one of the environments where infections spread rapidly; throughout a workday, workers have to come into contact with one another frequently and use the same facilities and equipment. These factors make the workplace a ripe hunting ground for airborne diseases, which don't necessarily require much to spread.

Infection-causing germs are transmitted by contact spread, airborne spread, or droplet spread:

• Contact-spread illnesses can be transmitted by touching an ill individual or by contact with their contaminated environment, i.e., telephones, computers, and other equipment.
• Airborne infections spread through coughing, sneezing, close personal contact, and even laughing.
• Droplet infections travel in the air and can be breathed in by those nearby; they can also occur by touching the nose or mouth with droplet-contaminated hands.

Ordinarily, workers spend 45 hours of the week at work; it is longer in some instances; within this time, they may be exposed to many potentially deadly diseases. However, with good hygiene practices, employee health can be maintained.

How employers can ensure hygiene in the workplace:

• Implement a hygiene policy
  Provide staff with a written hygiene policy. Inform staff of the intentions and expectations of a clean workplace.
• Provide a clean bathroom
  Ensure the bathroom is well stocked with soap, toilet paper and hand towels.
• Provide clean wipes, sanitiser and tissues
  Provide clean wipes, sanitisers, tissues, and other necessities to help your staff maintain a clean and hygienic workspace.
• Regular cleanings
  Regularly cleaning the office prevents the spread of infection; a clean workplace also maintains morale and a sense of professionalism.

Sanitech Integrated Hygiene Services

Sanitech's integrated hygiene services can help business owners achieve all these objectives. Sanitech offers a complete hygiene solution that can cater to large industrial and mining companies to small corporate offices and is backed by Sanitech's ongoing access to the latest products and technology.

Our integrated hygiene services include the following:

1. Daily cleaning, deep cleaning, yard cleaning, gardening and pest control.
2. Carpet cleaning, high-rise window cleaning, specialised maintenance, and laundry services.
3. Free installation of charged and fully maintained hygiene units for the contract duration.

Additionally, Sanitech understands that not all office hygiene needs are uniform. For this reason, we tailor to your specific office needs to illuminate the need for capital outlay.

We take office hygiene management out of your hands. Our extensive health and safety knowledge will help you meet ISO standards.

Give yourself and your employees peace of mind, knowing that this essential but non-core service of office hygiene is in safe, professional hands.