Thursday, February 23, 2012

Designing a Cleaner Friendly Office Space

In Sydney new office buildings and businesses are sprouting up all the time. If you are starting up in a new office space (or wanting to renovate an old one) it’s essential that the interior of a workspace is designed to be cleaner friendly. It’s important because, as multiple studies have shown, a clean working environment increases productivity, employee morale, reduces the amount of sick days needed and boosts a company’s image.


When considering office cleaning, Sydney has a range of good commercial cleaning companies. Such services can end up being quite expensive and this may hurt small or newly established businesses. However, commercial cleaning doesn’t need to be expensive! There are a number of ways your office space can be designed to be cleaner friendly and reduce cleaning costs.

Below it shall be discussed how certain types of flooring, the organisation and installation of specific office furniture and employee involvement can all help reduce your commercial cleaning bill!

Sensible Flooring

If you have the opportunity to design the interior of your office space, be smart in what kind of flooring material you choose. Of course, sensible flooring will depend primarily on what type of business you are running and the facilities in your office.

If your office is going to cop a lot of wear and tear from employees you may want to have a durable carpet that can withstand the continual scuffing of feet. Also, choose carpet that is dark, has a pattern or is ‘flecked’. This will help reduce the noticeability of any marks or stains on the floor. If you want to splurge a little, invest in stain resistant carpet. Carpet that is designed for heavy use requires less cleaning.

So, avoid thick, soft, light coloured carpets. They will show up marks more often and under heavy use will often begin to deteriorate and contribute to a build-up of loose fibre and dust. Thick woolly carpets can also be a greater harbinger of germs and dirt and will require cleaning more often.

If your office is going to have a small employee lunchroom considering installing tiles or anything with a smooth, flat, shiny surface. If an employee makes a spill or a mess it’s much easier for them to clean and wipe up it up.

By choosing suitable flooring you can reduce how often your floor needs to be cleaned with expensive cleaning products. Your commercial cleaners will also thank you for taking the initiative of having easy to clean floors.

Installing and Organising Office Furniture

If you are running a business that generates a lot of paperwork consider installing filing cabinets and filing trays on employee desks. Getting piles of paper off the ground and the desks makes it much easier for commercial cleaners to vacuum the floor and clean work spaces.

It’s a great idea to place a wastebasket near each desk or workstation. This makes it easier for your employees to dispose of their rubbish and less likely to leave it on the floor or on their table. Reducing the amount time your cleaners have to clean reduces your cleaning expenses.

With the layout of your office, try and avoid squashing everything together. Having a cluttered work environment doesn’t just promote untidy work habits, but it also makes your space much harder to clean. The more nooks and crannies you have, the more you encourage mould to grow, dust to collect and increase the time it takes for cleaners to navigate around everything.

Keep the office layout simple and open promotes a friendly atmosphere and makes it’s easier for cleaners to move around and clean more efficiently.

Educating Your Employees

Another way you can reduce your cleaning bill is by educating your employees in matters of hygiene.

Try and encourage your employees to use the wastebaskets around the office. A lot of commercial cleaning services are always pushed for time and, therefore, having to not pick up after employees makes their job quicker and easier.
Also, with many employees choosing to eat at their desks, try and encourage them to wash their hands after eating, especially before using their keyboards and mouses. This will reduce the amount of times you need commercial cleaners to perform an IT cleaning service.