The late great Hollywood icon, WC Fields once said “never work with animals or children”. While he was talking sharing the silver screen, and I don’t agree with this as a general life rule, for an office cleaner there is something to be taken from it. In this blog I’ll point out some things to look for when cleaning a pet- and family-friendly office space.
First the easy one: Children in the office
Once offices were the domain only of the alpha males and female secretaries. And children were neither seen nor heard. Today with pressures, on family life, and the intersection between work and home, the personal and the professional, less clearly defined, children are a common and welcome part of the team.
This not only means we have to be vigilant for sticky finger marks at lower heights, lots of crumbs and the occasional nappy, but the level of cleanliness and access to danger zones (bins, cleaning products) also needs extra vigilance.
If children are office regulars, it may be a good idea to speak to your cleaners. They can then prioritise extra tasks and special care in areas they may not always notice, or, at least empty bins more frequently. I love seeing evidence of a family-friendly office during our night time cleans. I think it shows we’re moving on as humans.
And the not so easy.. Pets and p**
I know we love our cats and dogs. (disclaimer: The author may or may not have 2 oversized dogs that sleep in his bed, thanks to the patience of his long-suffering, and, thankfully, dog-loving better half.) When they are brought into an office environment, however, that’ss a different matter. I’ll break this up into two areas:
Hair
Dogs and cats shed hair! and, when in the nice warm airconditioned environment of the office, they are prone to shed a little extra. This needs cleaning and vacuuming on a daily basis.
Animal fur can hold all types of nasties, including E-coli and other bacteria and salmonella. Hookworm and scabies are found in the fur, and, of course, people with allergies and asthma can be greatly affected by it.
Minimise adverse impacts from your pets by cleaning every day the pest (sorry, pets!) are in the office. It’s not a clean and healthy working environment if you’re leaving the clean to a usual weekly or fortnightly regime, so book your cleaner more regularly and for those days when they don’t come, get a good, pet specialist vacuum and empty it after every use.
Land mines (the poo patrol)
According to Greg Flowers in his blog Ask the Trainer: Dog poo is a public health hazard. There 23 million fecal coliform bacteria in a single GRAM of pet waste. Now, I don’t want to labour this point, but the health hazards from your pets pooh is rather high and you’re leaving yourself open to legal action if a staff member of visitor contracts something from a pet poo land mine on your space.
Bag it and bin it (properly – your team will thank me for reminding you not! to put it in the office bin) and blast the area with a good smell-neutralising agent. This will stop the pet from returning to the scene to repeat the performance. Disinfect the area with an agent that won’t affect the flooring or carpet and steam clean regularly. This is particularly important, of course, if the office is also child-friendly. Small floor-based team members don’t need to be crawling a less than hygenic office floor.
Summary
Children and pets are a joy in the office. It’s proven that a family and animal friendly office can boost well being, but the pay off is you do need to put in extra effort with cleaning. Speak to me about what’s involved. We specialise in thorough, hygenic regular cleans and many of our clients have family and pet-friendly work places, so we know what’s needed to keep your space safe for all team members great and small.