The Six Dirtiest Places in the Office

If you think the bathroom is the only germ haven in your office, think again.

Would you believe the dirtiest spot is the sink faucet in the break room?​

​This might give you pause before heating up leftovers for lunch at work: among the dirtiest spots in a typical office are the microwave door and refrigerator door handles in the break room. You probably already touched both today.

In a new study by Kimberly-Clark Professional, researchers swabbed nearly 5,000 surfaces in office buildings housing about 3,000 employees. The offices included law firms, insurance companies, health care companies, call centers and manufacturing facilities.

The swabs were analyzed with an ATP meter, a device commonly used to assess sanitary conditions in industry. It measures levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule found in all animal, vegetable, bacteria, yeast and mold cells. High ATP levels are present in food or other organic residues left on surfaces. The more ATP found on a surface, the more likely it’s flourishing with bacteria and viruses.

An ATP reading of over 100 suggests a surface could use a scrub-down. Readings of 300 or higher are considered officially dirty and at high risk for spreading illness. Note the meter doesn’t directly measure germs, but the dirty surfaces they cling to.

The dirtiest office surfaces found to have ATP counts of 300 or higher were as follows:

• 75% of break room sink faucet handles
• 48% of microwave door handles
• 27% of keyboards
• 26% of refrigerator door handles
• 23% of water fountain buttons
• 21% of vending machine buttons

Surfaces with readings over 100 that could use disinfecting included:

• 91% of break room sink faucet handles
• 80% of microwave door handles
• 69% of keyboards
• 69% of refrigerator door handles
• 53% of water fountain buttons
• 51% of all computer mice
• 51% of all desk phones
• 48% of all coffee pots and dispensers
• 43% of vending machine buttons

“A lot of people are aware of the risk of germs in the restroom, but areas like break rooms have not received the same degree of attention,” study consultant Dr. Charles Gerba, professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona​, said in a statement. “This study demonstrates that contamination can be spread throughout the workplace when office workers heat up lunch, make coffee or simply type on their keyboards.”

It’s impossible to avoid germs entirely, but according to Brad Reynolds of Kimberly-Clark Professional’s Healthy Workplace Project, diligent washing, wiping and sanitizing can help office workers reduce their rates of cold, flu and stomach illness by up to 80%.

Here are some of Dr. Gerba’s tips for protecting yourself from catching your co-workers’ coughs, sniffles or other germs:

• Keep hand sanitizer at your desk and use it immediately after every meeting or conference
• Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer when you get to work, especially after riding mass transit, such as trains or buses
• Use disinfectant wipes to clean your desk at least once a day, particularly if you eat at your desk
• Use disinfectant wipes to sanitize high-touch areas in a break room, or use paper towels to touch them
• ​Keep hand sanitizer in the break room to reinforce healthy hand hygiene behaviors

Contact Iowa Business Supply for your solutions to a cleaner and germ-free break room!

101 Things To Laminate

Do you laminate? Laminating is a cost effective way to protect and preserve everything from business cards to teaching aids to restaurant menus. Both pouch and roll laminating machines deliver quality results that are worthy of display. Plus, documents that are laminated just look better!

Expand your thinking on what to laminate! Taking your pouch laminator outside of the workplace can help you realize how useful it can truly be. Laminating can make posters last for years, turn handwritten recipes into family keepsakes, and more. The possibilities are endless!

There's no better way to get started than with a new GBC® laminator and laminating pouches. GBC® machines include user friendly features such as a fast warm-up time and one touch operation to make laminating quick and easy.
No matter what your area of focus - education, business, restaurant, legal, manufacturing, or crafts/personal use, lamination can help give your projects a finished professional look. To help spark your ideas about what to laminate, click here to get the ideas flowing and start laminating today!

Getting Organized

Resolved to 'get organized?' If so, you are not alone. Fall is a great time to get a jump on end of the year document organization - tax time will be here before you know it! One of the best ways to get organized is simply to purge what you don't need any more. Paper is the number one thing that Americans say prevents them from being organized at work and home, so that is a great place to start. Consider these questions when you are unsure whether to toss or save a document:

*Is the information relevant to my life, personal interests or job?

*Am I bound by law to maintain the information for a certain length of time?

*How easy would it be to replace this information later?

*What is the worst thing that could happen if I got rid of it?

The last question can be a complicated issue. There are some documents that you must keep forever, like income tax returns and related receipts, stock records, and retirement or pension records. You should check with your accountant or attorney before pitching out any important legal, business or financial paperwork. It's also a good idea to reference Business Retention Guidelines for specific guidelines on how long to hang on to certain documents. Remember, in many states, once your trash is left out for collection in an area accessible to the public it is considered public property. 

To protect yourself against identity theft, be sure to dispose of your important records properly. Any piece of paper that contains account numbers, your social security number or other sensitive information should be shredded before being thrown away. HandFree shredders such as the Swingline Stack-and-Shred Series can be your best friend. HandsFree shredding lets you shred large amounts of paper without hand feeding the shredding; you can continue to organize while you are shredding unnecessary papers! 

Now that you've reduced the amount of paper you have, the next step is to organize what is left. Here's three tips:

*Separate the most important documents, such as insurance policies, and store them in a safe place that it out of the way

*Hole punch and store other less vital documents in binders or file folders and clearly label the contents

*Consider going digital -- scan documents and save them to your computer. This is very effective but you need a system in place to back up the files.  In many instances, you can shred the paper copies after scanning!

Junk mail, bills, memos, reports, receipts ... the paper trail is virtually endless. The best thing you can do is keep up with everything as it comes in. Maintain the routine of deciding whether to pitch or keep items at least once a week, and you will successfully prevent clutter. Happy Organizing!

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