boosting the efficacy of cleaning services
don't get “taken to the cleaners”
Advertising Agency Offices
Situation
A central Christchurch advertising agency was struggling to meet its project deadlines, as a result of a wave of recurring illness keeping staff off sick. Management heard staff were tired of picking up the workload for absent colleagues and they asked that something be done to break the cycle of sickness and absence.
Despite having a cleaning company three times a week, the agency offices were found to have high bacteria counts in shared spaces. Another example of being visually clean, but unhygienic on a microbial level.
The agency consisted of a large open-plan office work area, one large cafe/staffroom and three washrooms - each with multiple cubicles and fixtures.
Action Taken
360 Hygiene were contacted to conduct an audit and 19 surfaces bacterial swab analysis. Overall they had 3 passes, 2 borderline and 14 contaminated surfaces. They also found the handwashing culture amongst staff was lacking, with only 13% of their 47 employees washing their hands effectively, 62% doing a poor job of it and 25% not washing their hands at all.
It was calculated that washrooms were used between 470 and 752 times between cleaning services and the cafeteria used 376 to 846 times between cleaning services.
A fortnightly workplace hygiene programme was implemented, including the sanitisation of the washroom fixtures (toilets, urinals and hand basins) and cafeteria. Nano Shield antimicrobial surface protectant was applied to all fixtures, touch-points and cafeteria surfaces. This kills 99.99% of germs, viruses and bacteria on contact and provides continuous protection four up to 14 days.
- Cotton cloth hand towels were replaced with paper hand towels to lessen the risk of cross-contamination.
- Hand sanitiser dispensers were installed outside washrooms and selected points throughout the office and cafeteria.
- On-going hygiene audits and certification were implemented to validate that the washrooms and cafeteria were continuously “health safe”.
- Management shared these results with employees, not only to show their health and well-being is important to the business but also to encourage improvements in personal hygiene practices.
Result
Within a short time the hygiene levels were up and the rates of absenteeism from sickness down. The company was getting on top of its project deadlines again and staff were feeling reassured their concerns were addressed and felt valued and appreciated by management.
An unintended consequence was a noticeable improvement in the level of service from the agency’s regular cleaning company. This kept the cleaner honest, improved the level of general cleaning and the company’s satisfaction with their cleaning provider.
Pass rates for their hygiene audits and ATP testing improved dramatically. The agency maintains this improvement through ongoing fortnightly sanitisation.
Nano Shield antimicrobial surface protectant was applied to all fixtures, touch-points and cafeteria surfaces. This kills 99.99% of germs, viruses and bacteria on contact and provides continuous protection from 4 up to 14 days.
Learn about more workplaces who have had the 360 treatment
