A recent study of desktop hygiene found that the desktop had 20 thousand germs per square inch far more than a toilet lid ! . The study suggests it’s because we walk around at work touching all kinds of surfaces and implements during a working day then returning to the desk where the germs are transferred to the desk and equipment on it. So, just disinfecting your desktop, your phone (the phone receiver has 25 thousand germs per square inch) and your computer keyboard ( which has 3 thousand) and just by doing that once a day you can kill the majority of these germs and reduce the risk of spreading infectious and potentially dangerous bacteria..

The telephone . . is yours clean ?

During normal speaking, people expectorate and this bacteria-laden fluid can penetrate the holes in the telephone mouthpiece. If a seriously ill person coughs or sneezes while on the telephone, pathogenic bacteria can be deposited on and in the telephone. Just as you would not use a glass or utensil of a stranger or ill person, would you put your mouth against a telephone, especially not knowing who used it last?

Every time someone picks up the phone, their mouth acts as a vacuum, inhaling germs, bacteria and airborne transmittable diseases. these germs can live for days, breeding in this moist, dark place. Whether at home, work or on the road, you are exposed to these germs every time you pick up the telephone.

STUDIES
Using a receiver recently touched by someone with a cold or flu may give you their illness, says Terry M. Phillips, Ph.D., of George Washington University Medical Center

Telephones can be doubly treacherous: Not only does bacteria lie on the surface, where you can get them on your fingers, but they can lurk in the mouthpiece. "If you use a phone shortly after someone with a cold has breathed into it, you run a risk of inhaling the bacteria," says Terry M. Phillips, Ph.D., director of George Washington University's Immunogenetics and Immunochemistry Laboratories in Washington, D.C.

An Independent Study done at George Washington University Laboratory Dept. of Immunogenetics and Immuno Chemistry revealed evidence of bacteria on telephones which are harmful to human health and that regular sanitizing will protect telephone users against contact with these bacteria.

Ken Kruta, a virologist in Jersey City, tested public phones in the Essex County area (New Jersey).
     Using sterilized wooden toothpicks, Kruta scraped the holes inside the mouthpieces of phones .Later, under controlled laboratory conditions, he was able to grow bacteria from the samples and conduct diagnostic tests. His testing turned up staph, strep and a number of other pathogenic organisms.
     The results indicated that whenever one uses a public phone, whether it be indoor or outdoor, urban or suburban, idle or immediately following its use, chances are that there will be some exposure to one or more infectious agents.

Conclusions: During normal use, both public and private telephones become contaminated with a variety of different pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and viruses. These organisms have mechanisms whereby they can survive both on the inert surface of the plastic telephone mouthpiece and within the mouthpiece, itself. Viability studies indicate that all of these organisms are capable of surviving desiccation on the inert surface and maintaining their disease inducing potential.

The Solution . . .

These are just some of the reasons we think it make sense to employ a regular cleaning service from a reputable company like All-Ways Clean. Infections are harmful to your workforce and cause illness and ultimately lost working hours. Call our sales line now on 0118 945 6467 for a no obligation quotation and site visit to assess your cleaning requirements.