Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

When we think about our homes, many of us go the extra mile to make sure that surfaces, items and anything that has potential of breeding germs is spotless clean. However, we forget the office—home away from home—where  disease causing germs linger on the elevator button and the telephone. CATE NJIRU  identifies the filthiest office items you touch everyday at work

Photocopier and printer

With everyone trying to get their copies printed on time, the average printer and photocopier machine is touched up to 300 times a day – especially the interface and touch pad.

This makes it a key nesting ground for nasty bacteria. Its advised that we wipe over the surface and keypad with a PC wipe before each use.

The mouse is three times germier than the toilet seat

Your hand is placed on a mouse up to eight hours each day. The mouse is exposed to bacteria generated from sweat, food particles and dust from anyone who puts their hand on it. Its almost obvious that no one bothers to clean their mouse. 

Stop chewing pens or stop borrowing

Again, transfer is the huge problem to the nervous habit of chewing pens or pencils. The pen has been touching germy hands all day — perhaps that were not your own.

Chewing on a pen will therefore transfer bacteria and nasty germs to your mouth and, most workers admit to chewing on their pens, so you’d probably want to avoid borrowing one from your colleague! 

Soap dispenser 

You’ve just had your lunch, gone for a bathroom break and washed your hands, there’s enough soap in the dispenser and you gladly use the soap. But most people don’t know just how dirty the dispensers are.

Look at it this way, its in the bathroom and everyone touches it before washing their hands. Studies suggest that most office dispensers are contaminated with faecal bacteria.

Unless you wash your hands thoroughly. Sadly though, most people do not and end up vulnerable to infection.

The keyboard 

You probably sneeze on it, eat over it, and spill drinks on it. And you never clean it. Ever. And if you share a keyboard with your co-workers, it could be even worse.

Keyboards are notorious for harbouring bacteria, shake and wipe down your keyboard weekly with a slightly damp cloth.

Your desk

Your desk accommodates more bacteria than a toilet seat. Studies suggest that more than 10 million germs are found on the average work desk, 400 times more bacteria on a toilet seat.

To keep your work space clean and healthy, wipe down weekly with an antibacterial wipe or vinegar-based solution.

Every germy hand touches the fridge

In this fridge, different containers, some dirty, end up camping there for days. Then there’s the carrier bags from ‘all walks of life’ that store this dirty containers and over-stayed food.

The office fridge makes for the perfect environment for breeding bacteria. Unlike how it should be, the fridge is never cleared or cleaned at least after two days.

Sharing headphones can breed lice

It’s common to see colleagues sharing headphones, but before each use, clean them. However,  it would be wise to find your own and store them for future use.

Bacteria spreads like wildfire thanks to hair fibres, sweat and earwax, potentially causing facial and ear rashes as well as lice. After one hour of use, bacteria and germs can increase 700 times!

The water dispenser 

The dispenser might look refreshing and it might be the perfect place to catch up on office politics or away from the office vibes, but a reliable source of germs as well. The buttons or handles are touched by everyone, but no one bothers to clean.

Food poisoned? It might be the microwave 

Depending on the size of your office, the microwave can be used up to 30 times each day, harbouring a combination of meat and vegetable particles, and creating a nest for bacteria.

Germs need warmth, food and moisture to multiply, and allowing the internal top to be splattered with food particles can cause a potential health risk.

People might end up falling sick thinking its something in the food. Then how often is the office micro-wave cleaned? Never perhaps?