“Maintenance of systems and filtration has an impact on how contaminants flow through the air, so buildings that have not been properly serviced to maintain appropriate circulation, filtration, humidity and temperatures can contribute to higher amounts of microorganisms moving through the systems,” she says. Hewitt says that in indoor environments, microbial life is circulated through the air and within HVAC systems. The circulated air of offices can also contribute to the spread of microbes. Even staying at their private desks, germs can also be spread by the flying droplets which settle on any surface and cause contamination”. “If one person is sick, he or she could spread the germs through coughing and sneezing, touching surfaces and contacting others closely. “The great risk is not from the building but from sick employees,” says Dr Ali Khan, an epidemiologist and professor at the College of Public Health UNMC at the University of Nebraska. Poor hygiene from office workers can exacerbate to this, too: a 2019 UK survey showed that only 61% of UK office workers washed their hands properly with warm water and soap after going to the toilet.ĭirty fingers and desks are one thing, but the biggest risk for the spread of virus is what’s travelling through the air. Within two to four hours, the virus could be detected on 40% to 60% of workers, visitors and commonly touched objects. The first area that was contaminated was the coffee break room, says study researcher Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona. Researchers placed a sample of a harmless virus on a single doorknob or table-top in an office building. Jonathan Sexton, a researcher at the College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, found that places such as refrigerators, drawer handles, faucet handles, push-out exit doors and coffee pots tend to have the highest concentrations of germs.Īnd they travel quickly, according to a study from the American Society for Microbiology. And the more colleagues that touch them, the higher the risk of contamination. In other words, many of the high-touch areas in your office could be vectors for the spread of virus. “People spend a large amount of their daily life in the confines of the office where shared spaces and high interaction with shared surfaces increases the amount of microbes on surfaces and in the air,” she says. Krissi Hewitt, director of institutional research and strategic initiatives at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, has researched the diversity and abundance of microbial life in offices. Researchers have shown that bugs, germs, viruses and bacteria spread easily in an office. One person will arrive at the office – sneezing, coughing – and will pass on whatever virus they have to their colleagues. You’re likely familiar with cycle: every season, a bug will go around. These measures are an attempt to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus workers are deemed safer isolated in their homes, and getting out of crowded offices can slow the spread of Covid-19.īanning work in centralised offices isn’t just a precaution – offices have been, and are, prime sites for the spread of viruses and bacteria. Around the world millions of people have abandoned their offices – their carefully organised desks, the fluorescent lights, the humming photocopier, the gossipy watercooler – as governments mandate that employees work from home.
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