Cold & Flu Season: In Schools & The Office

With the changing seasons comes the inevitable challenge of the cold and flu season. But getting sick doesn’t have to be inevitable. In fact, with a few handy tools in your basic arsenal (and some good cleaning regimens in place for sanitation and hygiene), you can keep a significant portion of those nasty cold and flu germs at bay. Let’s look at some simple tips to combat cold and flu that minimize the spread of illness-inducing germs in places like schools and offices.

Cold and Flu Hotspots

We at Guernsey know a thing or two about health and hygiene. And in our years of experience helping businesses and educational facilities operate at their peak capacity, we know schools and offices are two hotspots where cold and flu germs spread like wildfire.

Let’s face it – they are adorable, but when it comes to kids, they are petri dishes for germs, which makes schools potential health hazards. School hygiene is paramount to ensure students don’t lose out on learning due to avoidable illness. That said, office breakrooms, bathrooms, and other common areas are also hotspots, and employee absences due to illness can damage productivity, morale, and bottom line for a business. Why not prevent it when you can?

Within schools and offices, you can drill down to even more specific hotspots, such as doorknobs, breakrooms and kitchens, phones, desks, etc. And then you can drill down even further to the root partner in crime with germs – hands. As “handy” as they are, hands do the heavy lifting in spreading germs, making them Public Enemy Number One when it comes to health and hygiene.

According to the CDC, hands are responsible for transmitting over 80% of infectious germs. Think about it – every time you touch an object, you transfer whatever is on your hands to that object. Every door handle you turn, every phone you pick up, every handle you flush, every counter you touch, every hand you shake, your reach adds up very quickly.

That’s why one of the absolute best (and easiest) lines of defense against germs (both catching and spreading them) is good hand hygiene.

Developing Good Hand Hygiene

There are two excellent (and simple) ways to develop and encourage good hand hygiene in an office or school setting:

1. You make it as easy as possible for people to keep their hands clean by placing items like hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, and soap dispensers in key locations, along with reminders about the benefits of hand hygiene.
2. You incorporate and follow good sanitation practices in your facility, such as keeping a steady supply of items like disinfecting wipes so you can wipe down countertops and other high-traffic surfaces like handles and knobs, keeping them germ free.

Facts About Hand Washing

To give you some sobering facts, properly washing your hands:

• Reduces the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by 23-40%
• Reduces diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems by 58%
• Reduces respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by 16-21%
• Reduces absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness by more than 40%

The numbers speak for themselves. Encourage good hand hygiene in your office or school and you’re already ahead of the game. That means scrubbing your hands with soap and clean running water for at least 20 seconds, especially before and after eating, after using the bathroom, and after blowing your nose. And that means keeping those soap dispensers filled at all times.

Hand Sanitizer and Sanitizing Wipes

If, for some reason, washing hands isn’t an option, hand sanitizer is your next best line of defense. Head over to our recent blog on the health benefits of hand sanitizer for more info on the best kinds to buy and how to use it effectively. In a nutshell, placing hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes strategically around your facility goes a long way in encouraging people to practice better hand hygiene.

Disinfecting Wipes

Clean hands are only half of the battle. Keeping surfaces germ free is another huge element in combatting the spread of germs. And keeping a steady supply of disinfecting wipes at the ready ensures easy cleaning of counters, handrails, doorknobs, desktops, etc., which means fewer opportunities for your hands to pick up unwanted germy hitchhikers.

Stock Up to Fight Cold and Flu Season

Want to make sure your school or office is prepared for the inevitable germ invasion? Guernsey has all the products you need:

• Hand Sanitizers
• Sanitizing Wipes
• Soap Dispensers
• Disinfecting & Cleaning Wipes