Office staff worried about germs

In the survey, which was conducted by Cogent Research, among 303 office workers from across England, 21% said they were 'greatly concerned' by germs at work, with 51% stating they were 'somewhat concerned'. Meanwhile, 57% said they were worried about the transfer of germs from work to home.

Suzanne Halley, end-user marketing manager – UK at Kimberly-Clark Professional, said: "Office workers are right to be concerned about hygiene at work all year round. Invisible bacteria in the workplace can cause colds, flu and upset stomachs. Though they are minor, these are unpleasant illnesses that force people to take time off, and staff absence costs UK businesses nearly £30 billion annually. However, simple steps such as installing sanitisers around an office, and making sanitising wipes widely available, can make a big difference to wellbeing."

She continued: "A healthy workforce is a happy and productive workforce. Particularly at this time of year, in the middle of the cold and flu season companies that take pro-active measures to keep their staff free of illness will be rewarded in the longer term. Indeed, 61% of those questioned in our survey said they’d like hand sanitisers to be more readily available around the workplace."

Implementing measures to keep people healthy at work isn’t difficult. The strategic positioning and distribution of sanitisers, both non-alcohol and alcohol varieties, is one of the most effective tools to keeping people healthy. High performance hand sanitisers and sanitising wipes from Kimberly-Clark Professional can kill up to 99.999% of common bacteria that cause illness within as little as 30 seconds.

In addition, ‘caddies’ for desks and meeting rooms are an easy way to have a range of hygiene products in one place and act as a hygiene station for office staff. Kimberly-Clark Professional offers caddies that contain Kleenex tissues, a hand sanitiser and surface wipes in a practical, personal holder designed to sit on an employee’s desk. Meeting room caddies are also available, containing a similar range of Kleenex products but in a format more suitable for use by people in larger offices, meeting rooms, conference venues, restaurants and reception areas.

Kimberly-Clark Professional has developed The Healthy Workplace Project, to make it easy for companies to reduce sickness levels among their staff by promoting the little things people can do to minimise the spread of germs in offices.

Suzanne Halley explained: "By emphasising the importance of ‘washing, wiping and sanitising’ on the job, The Healthy Workplace Project helps to cut levels of absenteeism because of illness, raise staff satisfaction because they feel better more often, increase productivity levels and reduce the risk of people taking germs home to their families. All in all, it means one thing less for office workers to worry about as they head back to the office this New Year."