Is your business as clean as it looks? Whilst your employees might keep their desks tidy and the surfaces clean, there are essential office cleaning tasks that often go overlooked. When these tasks go forgotten they can affect productivity, your team’s health, and even your business’ reputation, so let’s take a look at the simple tasks you might be missing and how to tackle them this autumn. 

1. High-Touch Points

Whether you have a team of five or fifty, high-touch points are a hotspot for gems and bacteria in any office building. Door handles, light switches, and lift buttons in particular are touched by numerous people throughout the day who may be carrying a range of contaminants on their fingertips, but despite their importance they are often overlooked in regular cleaning routines. 

To keep these germs under control and to reduce the risk of infections, these surfaces should be disinfected daily along with the usual desk and furniture surfaces. Paying regular attention to these areas not only keeps your employees and visitors safe but also allows all the members of your team to go about their day without worrying about germ levels. 

2. Office Furniture

Is there an easier place to overlook than behind cabinets or on top of high surfaces? Many UK businesses certainly don’t think so and these areas often go untouched, resulting in significant dust buildup over time.

Whilst these surfaces are easy to overlook, failure to clean them will result in poor air quality and can be potentially dangerous for employees with asthma or allergies, as well as creating an uncomfortable workplace for the whole team. So, make sure to request that your regular cleaning team pays close attention to these areas in your next clean, and be sure to check these high or hidden surfaces every month to monitor any dust buildup. 

3. Office equipment

With phones ringing and a flurry of emails to be replied to across the working day, your laptops, keyboards and phones are some of the most used items in the office. These high-use items are left with fingerprints, grime, and flakes of dust from multiple users at the end of every busy day, but when was the last time you had them cleaned? 

Whilst your desks and other surfaces are likely cleaned every day, your cleaning team probably doesn’t want to damage your keyboards, phones, desktops and even printers. This leads to them being left to collect and spread contaminants across your workplace, so regularly wiping down these office essentials with disinfectant wipes will keep your equipment safe to use. 

4. Vents and Filters 

Another place that accumulates layers of dust, cobwebs, and airborne contaminants if left off the list of regular cleaning tasks is vents and filters. Whether these are found inside your heating or AC systems, or inside a vent allowing air into your building, the continuous movement of air moves these contaminants throughout the system and traps them in the vents. 

This not only impacts the operation of your systems but also circulates allergens throughout the office. So, address these often-forgotten areas at least every 3 months and replace the filters or vents as needed to maintain good air circulation and keep the systems in good working order when needed. 

5. Window blinds and curtains

Whilst you probably don’t have the windows in the office open much anymore, did you have them dusted down after summer? Pollen, dust, and a range of other allergens will have been blowing into your offices all summer and will affect the air quality in the office if left to stagnate for much longer. 

Blinds, with their small slats, and curtains, with their fabric surfaces, are the perfect place for these particles to latch onto. So, get ahead of any potential respiratory difficulties or allergy flare ups across your team by having your curtains and blinds vacuumed, dusted, and treated for a cleaner, fresher space this autumn. 

Don’t miss these office cleaning tasks this autumn

No matter how big your team is, show your commitment to their safety and wellbeing by tackling these commonly forgotten cleaning tasks. 

If your current cleaning team hasn’t been living up to your expectations, or you’re looking to invest in specialist office cleaning services, get in touch with MCS today to discuss their services and create your bespoke cleaning package.