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If there was ever a time to take your workplace cleaning to the next level, it's now.

While keeping the work setting clean has always been important for employee health and preventing the spread of illness, this has taken on an extra level of significance during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s likely that people pass Covid-19 to each other by either breathing in air-borne virus particles when someone coughs or sneezes, or by touching a surface that harbours these particles and then touching their face.

With respiratory viruses surviving on surfaces for anything from several hours to a few days, the thorough cleaning of surfaces and hands is essential for reducing the risk of contracting Covid-19 through touch. And as lockdown restrictions ease and workplaces prepare to welcome people back in bigger numbers, this is becoming even more pressing.

These hygiene measures will help to create a Covid-secure workplace:

Clean Frequently

The frequent cleaning and disinfection of regularly touched objects and surfaces is a must.

In an office building, these surfaces include reception desks, taps, handrails, door and drawer handles and equipment such as kettles, microwaves, photocopiers, keyboards and computer mice.

These should be cleaned as often as possible, before and after people arrive on site, after busy periods and at the end of each day.

Washrooms can be another source of cross infection, with numerous high contact surfaces including WCs, loo roll dispensers, washbasins, urinals, cubicle door handles, hand dryers, soap dispensers and sanitary waste dispensers.

A frequent cleaning schedule should be set up for all washrooms, and regular inspections held to make sure that soap and paper towel dispensers are stocked up.

Minimise Transmission

If there are concerns that someone with suspected coronavirus has been in an area, this needs to be cleaned with disinfectant as soon as possible, using disposable cleaning cloths.

All surfaces that a symptomatic person has come into contact with should be cleaned with warm soapy water, and then disinfected with cleaning products.

Cleaning needs to be done extra-carefully in any higher risk environment to prevent splashes or spraying into the surrounding area.

Equip Cleaners

Cleaning teams will need enough cleaning products, disposable cloths or paper roll and disposable mop heads to clean as frequently as possible. An audit of stock will be required to make sure enough supplies are on hand and can be topped up before they run out.

To work safely, cleaners will need to wear disposable gloves and aprons, which should be double bagged after use, for disposal. When working near to others, or in high traffic areas, or places where Covid-19 has been suspected, disposable masks should also be used, and the users trained to wear these safely and effectively.

For professional cleaning and disinfecting, P&G Professional Flash Multi Surface and Glass Cleaner Spray kills 99.99% of coronaviruses and bacteria and is safe for use on most washable interior surfaces.

P&G Professional Flash Sanitary Cleaner Spray is recommended for the effective cleaning of washroom surfaces and is suitable for the disinfection and removal of deposits from toilet bowls and urinals.

Remember to wash your hands

Keeping our hands clean is just as important as making sure surfaces are virus-free.

People should wash their hands when they arrive, after using the washroom, before eating or handling food and after blowing their nose, sneezing or coughing.

Cleaning personnel need to wash their hands before they start work and immediately after removing gloves, aprons and any other protective clothing.

Everyone should use soap and running water to scrub the front and back of their hands, between their fingers and under their nails, where microbes can be concentrated.

Drying with a clean paper towel or efficient air dryer helps to remove any remaining germs on the hands.

As an extra safety measure, hand sanitiser should be easily available in any areas where hand washing can be less accessible, including reception areas and meeting rooms.