Your desk’s dirty little secret

The following is a guest post by Terry Rombeck, digital manager for Via Christi Health.

I used to give a former co-worker grief because every evening, right before he’d head home, he would spray his desk with disinfectant.

My own schedule for desk-cleaning – both eliminating clutter and dust bunnies – has always been, shall we say, more lax.

In starting my new job at Via Christi Health, I have made a commitment to myself to be more organized, better utilizing files and working less from piles.

But a series of stats I ran across this week made me realize I should probably take that step further and disinfect my desk, as well. According to the British cleaning firm Master Cleaners Ltd., office desks contain about 400 times more germs than toilet seats, and computer keyboards are 70 percent more germy than toilet seats. Office telephones, meanwhile, have about 25,000 germs per square inch.

I was particularly entertained by the “what to avoid” tips offered by the company to eliminate office germs and avoid sickness:

1. “Avoid unnecessary handshakes.” I’m new at my job. Not really an option.
2. “Avoid coming in when you’re ill.” They might frown upon me missing work during the first few weeks.
3. “Avoid meetings where you know people are ill.” See Nos. 1 and 2.
4. “Avoid eating at your desk.” Guilty.
5. “Avoid using other people’s phones.” OK, now we’re getting somewhere…but how often does that happen?

Looks like I’ll be investing in some antibacterial hand gel and some cleaner for my desk. Maybe my former co-worker was on to something after all.