Fancy a cup of germs?

11th of December 2017
Fancy a cup of germs?

A new study in the UK suggests that making the tea at work can be a bacterial minefield.

Initial Washroom Hygiene found office workers could be exposing themselves to more harmful germs than they think during their daily tea run.

A swabbing study conducted in several office locations across the UK found particularly high levels of microbial activity on the tins or boxes where tea bags are kept - recording an average reading 17 times higher than that of an average toilet seat.

Other culprits of significant microbiological activity were fridge door handles, the kettle and the sugar pot.

While regular cleaning of shared kitchen facilities in office environments will go a long way to help with bacterial and viral contamination, employee behaviour can also play a part. A survey of 1,000 office workers found only a third of people wash a mug before making a cup of tea for a colleague and 80 per cent of those surveyed admitted they do not wash their hands before making someone else's tea.

Being aware of a mug's owner is also important - more than one in 10 have accidently mixed up mugs on a tea run, with five per cent admitting to deliberately mixing them up! With the average microbial ATP reading of a used mug coming in at 1,746 (more than three times what is considered to be within a ‘normal' range), using someone else's mug could significantly increase the chances of cross contamination and the spread of colds and other viruses in the workplace.

These microbiological readings are typical indicators of poor hygiene, which can increase the risk of cross contamination and the spread of colds and viruses, such as Norovirus, levels of which tend to increase when winter sets in as we spend more time indoors.

Dr Peter Barratt of Initial Washroom Hygiene advised: "Hand hygiene is really the key to mitigating the risks when it comes to the spread of germs in offices. Businesses need to ensure they have the right facilities in place to promote good hand hygiene across the company. This includes good quality soap from dispensers, hand drying equipment and hand sanitiser stations."

www.initial.co.uk

 

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