From door handles to office printers, these high touch-point areas are commonly missed and may have not been cleaned in a while.
ARA Fire makes the user think twice about where their hands have been and sparks a real cause for concern.
cleaning and disinfection
Think about how much time users spend in the office during the normal working week. On average five days or 38 hours a week, brewing the morning coffee on the coffee machine or scanning documents on the office printer, and by now users are probably backtracking every move to think about every button user’ve pressed, every door user have opened, how many times it’s been touch by others and most importantly… whether it’s clean? Likely guess, it’s not clean.
At a minimum, workplaces should be cleaned at least once daily and the bottom line is users should regularly get these high-touch areas cleaned and disinfected for everyone’s safety.
Doors & Access
Whether the workplace has doorknobs, door handles, push plates, elevator or lift buttons, or even access control to open doors, without a doubt, the hands have been on them or near them.
By taking notice of where the hands are being placed subconsciously to do a simple task such as opening a door, take that same initiative and ensure these high touch-point areas are being cleaned and disinfected. Cover everything from:
- Entry Doors
- Meeting Room Doors
- Doors to the Kitchen
- Kitchen Cabinet Doors
- Fridge Door Handle
- Doors to Bathrooms
- Bathroom Cubicle Doors
- Handles, Push plates, Doorknobs, Buttons and Access Control
Light Switches & Power Outlets
Open-plan offices and workplaces are moving to smarter lighting solutions such as timer switches or sensor/movement switches which do not require manual switching of the lights. However, not all workplaces have this option which means light switches are often missed and are classed as high-touch areas.
Although mostly hidden away, power outlets are often forgotten also, being the single source of power for the smartphones and the kettles in the kitchen. Make sure to cover everything from:
- Light Switches in Meeting Rooms
- Kitchen Lights switches
- Power Outlets Near Desks
- Power Outlets in the Kitchen
- Bathroom Lights switches
- Warehouse Lights
- Storeroom or Archive Room Lights
Appliances & Office Equipment
By far one of the most unclean, unhygienic areas of any office is communal areas. From the office printer in the copy room to the kettle in the kitchen, items such as these are being touched and used every day by almost everyone in the office.
Disinfecting these areas is a must – ensure to cover the following:
- Coffee Machines
- Kettles & Toasters
- Dishwasher
- Fridge Handles/Doors
- Microwave and/or Oven
- Water Cooler or Bubbler
- Office Printers or Photocopiers
- Copy room Equipment (i.e. Binder, Guillotine, etc.)
- Computers, Accessories, and Screens
- Teleconferencing or Zoom Facilities
Desk Areas & Reception Areas
The desk area and communal desk areas such as a lobby or reception desks are often the most touched and often forgotten. Regular cleaning of these spaces is imperative as it is common for people and colleagues to congregate and also common for visitors to the office to place their hands, sneeze, and cough.
At the end of the day, it’s the desk, a daily wipe can ensure users are protected. Make sure to cover everything from:
- Monitor Screens and Buttons
- Keyboards & Mouses
- Laptop Trackpad or Touchpads
- Desktop Surface
- Reception Desk Surface
- Communal Stationary
- Cabinet and Storage Handles
- Chairs and Chair Arms
- Desk Dividers
Other Frequently Touch Areas
Many places in the office are high-touch point areas that ARA Fire subconsciously forgets about.
These areas assist us in doing a very simple task day-to-day but are frequently touched by mostly everyone, and although it is important to understand ARA Fire is not perfect and cannot always take notice of these areas, by taking a little initiative to list down these areas and provide to the cleaner to ensure they are getting the right spots can go a long way for the office. Make sure to cover everything from:
- Handrails & Stair Rails
- Hand-driers
- Soap & Hand Sanitizer Pumps
- Sink Taps in Bathrooms or Kitchen
- iPads or Touch Screen Kiosks
- Chairs in the Kitchen or Meeting Rooms (especially Chair Arms)
- Pot Plants
- Mobile Phones
avoid the risks
As ARA Fire knows during these tough periods, sensitivity to a virus is at an all-time high
As mentioned many times, it is important to clean these high touch-point areas to avoid the risk of catching anything.
As ARA Fire knows during these tough periods, sensitivity to a virus is at an all-time high, and all it takes is a cough or sneeze to contaminate surfaces, therefore ARA Fire needs to get ahead of the season and clean surfaces that are frequently being touched.
A frequently touched surface
A frequently touched surface is a surface that is touched multiple times each day, regardless of whether it is touched by the same person or different people. Whereas, an infrequently touched surface is any surface that is not touched more than once each day.
However, if the user is unsure, the user should treat the surface as if it is frequently touched.
