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Is Your Dirty Building Affecting Your Health?

Could your business be making you, your staff, or even your customers sick? If the building isn't getting a good clean, the answer is 'yes'.

Sure, there may not be papers sitting everywhere, dust on the window ledges, or mud on the floor, but there's a good chance it's still loaded with germs. Many of them can make you sick enough to need time at home, medicine, a hospital stay, or worse.

Businesses, Sick Pay, and Costs Due to Illnesses

Sick days cost US businesses $153 billion every year. Factor in chronic conditions and other health problems, and that figure jumps to more than $1.1 trillion. On average, America's 27,757,676 businesses lose an average of $39,629 or more each year to illnesses such as colds, flu, E. coli, staphylococcus, salmonella, and parasitic infections. And these figures don't include additional costs such as the inconvenience to other employees, lost ideas or opportunities, or the associated healthcare costs.

Some 80% of the illnesses eating your profits are spread through contact. Imagine what would happen if businesses regularly disinfected the surfaces and practiced good hand washing procedures.

So where are all these germs hiding? You may be surprised.

The Top 10 Dirtiest Places in Your Business

1 - Flooring

The dirtiest surface in your business is right under your feet. Flooring has up to two million bacteria per square inch, while carpeting can contain 200,000 or more germs per square inch. And if you think you're not affected, think again. Sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming don't kill these germs or pick them all up. So, every time someone takes a step, the germs fly into the air, landing on anything in the vicinity. And what about the things you set on the floor?



When ABC's 20/20 did swab tests on the bottom of women's purses, 30 percent of those tested were coated in fecal matter. And the briefcases, backpacks, and other items we set on the floor aren't much better. To make matters worse, we often put these items on our desks or coffee room countertops, contaminating them as well.

2 - Money

Money may or may not buy happiness, but it can certainly make you sick. Dr. Darlington, New York's Health Commissioner, found between 126,000 and 135,000 bacteria on the paper bills he tested. Now, think about everything you touch after handling money, or even your wallet.

These germs aren't necessarily harmless, either. Five of the bills he tested contained enough bacteria to make a healthy person ill, while 87 percent contained germs that would severely harm someone with a low immune system, such as HIV or cancer victims. Now, you can't really do much about these germs, but you can stop them spreading to other surfaces in your business with a little diligence and regular cleaning.

3 - Telephones

Telephones may look clean, but they still have an average of 25,000 germs per square inch. And this makes sense. The number of germs on your fingers doubles after using the washroom, yet almost 50% of men and 25% of women fail to wash their hands afterward.

Even if they do, they usually don't wash them properly. Right-handed people wash their right hand more than their left (and vice-versa), while others fail to dry their hands properly, which can spread 1,000 times more germs.

This means you regularly transfer the two to ten million bacteria found between your elbow and your fingertips to everything you touch, where they can survive for up to three hours. (Some viruses can survive for up to three days.)

Considering how many people touch those same surfaces, it's no wonder phones are covered in bacteria and viruses. And the scariest part? Only 60% of employees clean their telephones, and even fewer do it regularly. Are you sure you want to put the receiver on your face?

4 - Office Desks

Believe it or not, your desk is more than 400 times dirtier than a toilet seat. That's right. According to Dr. Charles P. Gerba and The Clorox Company, the average office desk has 20,961 germs per square inch. And desks don't just get infected at dirty jobs, either. A study by the office supply company Viking found lawyers owned the dirtiest desks.

The main cause of these germs is people not washing their hands properly, but it's not the only one. An estimated 75% of employees eat at their desks at least twice a week, but only 24% of them wash it before eating.

And if that scares you, think of how many times you sneeze, cough, blow your nose, or rub your face. Every time it happens, you add millions of dead cells, bacteria, and viruses to the surface. Then, you touch your desk and carry these things to other surfaces in the office. You probably even take them home with you.

5 - Computer Keyboards and Mice

Did you know you're better off touching a door knob before you eat than your own keyboard or computer mouse? British microbiologist James Francis discovered keyboards and computer mice carry up to five times more germs and diseases than a door knob or a toilet seat. And the germs aren't any friendlier, either. Francis found a number of concerning bacteria, including E. coli, influenza, and Staphylococcus.

Why such a high level of contamination? Computer users simply don't wash their hands often enough. Even alcohol-based hand sanitizers would reduce infections and cross-contamination. Secondly, keyboards and mice are rarely cleaned properly or regularly.

6 - Water Fountains and Faucets

Researchers from Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine discovered water faucets contained high levels of Legionella, among other bacteria and viruses (from 0.6 to 2.7 million bacteria per square inch). And electronic models don't solve the problem. They had even more contamination than traditional faucets and fountains.

In the study, infectious disease specialist Emily Sydnor found Legionella in more than half the water cultures taken from electronic faucets, but only 15 percent of manual faucets contained the bacteria. Even after a chlorine dioxide flush, 29 percent of the electronic faucets were still contaminated.

She believes that while adequate cleaning is necessary for any fountain or faucet, the additional components needed for electronic faucets increases their level of contamination. (We won't mention the 2.7 million germs University of Arizona's Dr. Charles Gerba found on water cooler spigots.)

Still thirsty?

7 - Pens, Pencils and Office Supplies

You probably don't think twice about borrowing someone's pen to jot down a quick note, but you may want to rethink this practice. Pens used by bankers and accountants had 2,400 germs per square inch.

Most of the germs come from dirty, unwashed hands, but there are plenty of other sources. For example, we often use pens to dig something out of a small space or reach something that's fallen under the desk. We'll happily share them with others, but rarely disinfect them (if ever).

8 - Door Handles

Your business could be making your employees sick before they even walk through the door. A door handle that isn't regularly disinfected could contain any number of the 600,000 types of germs harmful to humans. (Even if they're regularly disinfected, they can still contain around 100 to 200 germs per square inch.)

So, every time you open a door, you could be putting yourself, your employees, and your customers at risk of contracting everything from the common cold to fatal influenza. Remember: only about 25 percent of all Americans wash their hands after using the washroom.

9 - Photocopiers and Fax Machines

If germs could travel through the phone lines, the person you're sending that fax to might say 'no thanks'. Tests performed by various experts found the buttons on photocopiers and fax machines were home to anywhere from 69 to just over 10,000 bacteria per square inch. And the buttons on your company vending machines (if you have them) aren't much better.

10 - Toilet Seats

A lot of people refuse to sit on a public toilet seat without some kind of guard, but are they really as dirty as people think? Believe it or not, toilet seats are some of the cleanest spots in your business. But they're still far from harmless.

Even with regular, adequate cleaning, you could still be at risk of picking up Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and scabies, to name a few. On average, researchers believe toilet seats contain around 49 germs per square inch.

University of Arizona's Dr. Gerba found you could greatly reduce your exposure to germs from the toilet by simply closing the lid when you flush. When you flush the toilet, a plume of bacteria and virus-laden water vapor rises from the bowl and floats in the air for hours, landing on anything nearby.

Interesting fact: Women's toilet seats were found to be far dirtier than those in the men's washroom. Experts believe urinals contribute to fewer men using the toilet, which lowers the contamination levels.

Reducing Sick Days and Improving Employee Health

Encouraging good health practices can greatly reduce the number of sick days your employees take throughout the year. Healthy eating and sleep patterns, exercise, good hand hygiene, and stress reduction techniques will help them be more productive, fight disease, and just make them happier. But that's not all you can do.

Make sure your business gets a regular, thorough clean by professionals who understand the dangers and know how to deal with them. Remember: just because you can't see dirt or clutter doesn't mean your business is clean. A quality cleaning company has the time, knowledge, and expertise, to clean all of your business' dirtiest places (and the cleaner ones) and make sure the bacteria and viruses go out with the dirt and garbage.

You will never need to call another cleaning company again!