SALES SUCCESS
Good businesses don’t run on empty REFILL SOAP
GET WINTER READY
Get winter ready: Office cleaning for healthy workers Cleaning needs to be about more than just keeping the workplace looking nice, especially with the winter bugs fighting to get in
M
anaging staffing in the winter season can feel like an uphill battle. During cooler weather, colds, flu, and respiratory illnesses are more common, and with people indoors more often, viruses pass more easily from person to person. Data from the ONS shows that the sickness
absence rate in 2022 rose to 2.6%, the highest since 2004, totaling an estimated 185.6 million working days lost. Research suggests that partweek absence due to illness can increase by as much as 20% during the winter months compared with summer. In terms of business impacts, XpertHR’s research puts the cost of staff absence at a median of £568 and an average of £544 per employee. With such a high cost to businesses, it’s unsurprising many reseller clients are already looking for advice and products to keep the bugs at bay this winter. The landscape has changed in the past couple of years, with many businesses now using hotdesking for hybrid workers, raising the risk of bacteria and viruses spreading between employees in the office.
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Denise Hanson, commercial director at The British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc), recommends a review of cleaning practices to ensure they are still up to scratch. She commented, “Businesses need to ensure cleaning specifications are robust and cover the requirements of the building. Some were flexed as people worked from home, and as staff return to the offices, these need to be checked to ensure they are fit for purpose.”
[28] OCTOBER 2023
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