When the colder months arrive, so does flu season—bringing with it a wave of seasonal illnesses that can easily spread through the workplace. Shared spaces, close contact, and frequent use of the same surfaces mean that viruses can travel fast from one person to another. Knowing how to maintain a clean and safe office during flu season is crucial for the health of your employees and the continued productivity of your business.
In this guide, we’ll explore the importance of workplace hygiene during flu season, offer practical cleaning tips, and show how professional cleaning services can help keep your office environment healthy and productive.
Why Flu Season Cleaning Matters
Protecting Employee Health
A clean office plays a key role in protecting employee health. Germs and viruses, including the flu, can survive on surfaces for hours—sometimes even days. Regular cleaning and disinfection can significantly reduce the spread of these pathogens, limiting the risk of infection among staff.
During flu season, it’s particularly important to maintain a hygienic workplace. This includes cleaning shared surfaces, encouraging healthy habits, and making sanitation products readily available to employees.
Reducing Sick Days and Absenteeism
When one person falls ill, it often leads to others catching the same illness. This chain reaction can result in a spike in absenteeism, lower morale, and reduced efficiency across your workforce.
By taking proactive steps to keep your workplace clean, you can help prevent illness from spreading. This not only protects your team but also maintains business continuity by reducing sick leave.
High-Touch Areas That Need Extra Attention
Certain areas of the office are used far more frequently than others and therefore harbour more germs. These spots should receive additional attention during cleaning routines.
Door Handles, Light Switches, and Desks
Handles and switches are touched by almost every person in the office, making them high-risk surfaces for virus transmission. Desks, especially in open-plan offices, often serve as eating areas, workspaces, and storage—collecting dust, food crumbs, and bacteria.
These surfaces should be wiped down multiple times a day using antiviral or antibacterial cleaning products.
Breakrooms, Bathrooms, and Shared Equipment
Communal kitchens and toilets are hotspots for cross-contamination. Items like kettles, fridge handles, taps, microwave buttons, and shared mugs can easily spread germs. Similarly, shared equipment such as printers, phones, and touchscreens can harbour viruses if not cleaned regularly.
These areas require thorough daily disinfection using products designed to kill flu viruses and other pathogens.
Cleaning Best Practices for Flu Season
Increase Cleaning Frequency
During flu season, standard cleaning schedules may not be enough. Increasing the frequency of cleaning helps to keep high-traffic areas safe throughout the day.
For example, cleaners should disinfect shared surfaces multiple times daily, especially in busy offices. Waste bins should be emptied more frequently, and communal spaces monitored for hygiene.
Use Antiviral and Antibacterial Products
Not all cleaning products are made equal. It’s important to use disinfectants that are proven to kill flu viruses, not just standard cleaning sprays. Look for products that are labelled as antiviral or contain at least 60% alcohol.
Using the right products ensures that surfaces aren’t just visibly clean but also hygienically safe.
Focus on Disinfection, Not Just Tidiness
There’s a difference between cleaning and disinfecting. While cleaning removes dirt and grime, disinfection is what eliminates germs. Both are necessary, but during flu season, the focus should shift more heavily towards disinfection of high-contact surfaces.
Offices should adopt a more clinical approach, especially in shared areas, restrooms, and kitchens.
Professional Cleaning Services vs In-House Cleaning
Many offices rely on in-house cleaning, but flu season may call for more thorough and consistent services.
Advantages of Hiring Experts
Professional cleaning companies are trained to target bacteria and viruses effectively. They use hospital-grade disinfectants and follow strict cleaning protocols designed to reduce the risk of illness.
Professional cleaners also tend to be more thorough, taking time to clean areas that may be overlooked during routine cleaning tasks.
Consistency and Deep Cleaning Techniques
Hiring professionals ensures regular and consistent cleaning, even when internal workloads fluctuate. Deep cleaning techniques such as steam cleaning, fogging, or electrostatic disinfection can also be used, offering a higher level of sanitisation during peak flu periods.
Outsourcing these tasks allows your staff to focus on their roles without worrying about workplace hygiene.
Supporting Hygiene Among Staff
Cleaning is only one part of maintaining a safe office. Encouraging good hygiene habits among employees can greatly reduce the spread of germs.
Encouraging Handwashing
Hand hygiene remains one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of illness. Place signs near washrooms and break areas reminding staff to wash their hands regularly and thoroughly—especially before meals and after using shared facilities.
Ensure soap dispensers are refilled daily and hot water is available at all times.
Installing Sanitising Stations
Hand sanitising stations should be placed in strategic locations such as reception areas, meeting rooms, and break areas. Choose alcohol-based sanitisers with a minimum of 60% alcohol content for maximum effectiveness.
This gives employees an easy way to maintain hygiene throughout the day, especially when soap and water aren’t immediately available.
Promoting Good Hygiene Etiquette
Educating staff on coughing and sneezing etiquette is another simple but powerful measure. Encourage the use of tissues, or coughing into the elbow if tissues aren’t available. Dispose of used tissues immediately and wash hands afterwards.
Providing tissues and bins with lids helps promote this behaviour throughout the workplace.
Long-Term Benefits of a Cleaner Workplace
Improved Morale and Productivity
A clean office is a pleasant place to work. When employees feel that their health and wellbeing are valued, it boosts morale and leads to a more motivated team. Staff are also more likely to take ownership of maintaining a clean space.
Additionally, fewer sick days mean a more productive workforce with less disruption to projects and workflows.
Healthier Work Environment Year-Round
Flu season may be temporary, but the benefits of a cleaner workspace are long-lasting. Maintaining high hygiene standards throughout the year can help reduce the spread of other illnesses, such as colds and stomach bugs, and contributes to overall staff wellbeing.
Investing in regular cleaning and promoting hygiene best practices sets the tone for a healthier and more professional work culture.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should an office be cleaned during flu season?
High-touch surfaces should be cleaned multiple times a day. Communal areas like kitchens and toilets should be deep cleaned at least once daily, with regular spot cleaning throughout the day.
Are antiviral cleaning products really necessary?
Yes, antiviral products are specially formulated to kill viruses, including influenza. Using them during flu season significantly reduces the risk of illness spreading around the office.
Can in-house staff manage flu season cleaning?
They can handle basic tasks, but for thorough disinfection and consistency, professional cleaners are often a better choice, especially during peak illness periods.
What areas of the office are most important to disinfect?
Focus on door handles, desks, shared equipment, kitchen surfaces, toilets, and reception areas. These are high-traffic zones where germs are more likely to spread.
How can we encourage staff to maintain hygiene?
Provide the right supplies—sanitisers, tissues, and soap—and place clear signage in strategic areas. Encourage sick staff to stay home to avoid spreading illness to others.