Do you find yourself getting the sniffles every time you are in the office? You feel fine outdoors, and in the train on the way to work but you start sneezing multiple times whenever you arrive in the office in the morning. You thought your desk was unsanitary and did a major spring clean in the weeks leading up to Chinese New Year, but your flu symptoms don’t seem to be improving. Maybe it’s the air-conditioning, maybe it’s just your nose, but what is it about the office that is triggering your allergies all the time? Read on to find out!

Non-allergic Rhinitis

Most people suffering from blocked nose, runny nose or flu symptoms without feeling sick are probably experiencing a case of Rhinitis, which is commonly termed the “Sensitive Nose”. Rhinitis is categorised into two types – allergic and non-allergic. Individuals with non-allergic Rhinitis usually find themselves displaying flu-like symptoms when there is a change in temperature and when they are exposed to perfumes or cigarette smoke.

Allergic Rhinitis, however, is due to the exposure to a particular allergen – usually dust mites, cat, dog fur or even grass. Does your workplace have an office pet? It might just be the reason behind your consecutive sneezing.

Air-conditioner Allergy

It isn’t just a coincidence that your nasal passages feel irritated whenever the air-conditioning is at full blast in the office. You don’t feel cold, but somehow you just can’t seem to stop sneezing. Contrary to popular belief, you are not allergic to the air-conditioner. Rather, you are allergic to the contaminants and dust trapped and recirculated through your office’s air-conditioner. If the air-conditioner is poorly maintained at your workplace, it might even have mould and mildew growth due to the damp conditions from water leakage. Just imagine the air-conditioner spreading these bacteria all over the office, no wonder your nose acts up so often!

Dust and Allergens

More often than not, whether you have Rhinitis or a neglected air-conditioner, the likely culprit for your runny nose at work is simply the accumulated dust from many surfaces in your workplace. Even if your office seems mostly spick and span, dust mites, pollen and mould are common and invisible allergy triggers that are likely present in your workplace. Plus, office buildings in Singapore are usually poorly ventilated with sealed windows, so plenty of dust settles on surfaces that you come into contact with daily.

Yes, there is probably plenty of dusty areas in your home but you don’t find yourself sneezing excessively at home. This is because you probably open your windows to ventilate your rooms and also turn on the fan regularly when you are home, sending the allergens out the window. Not to mention, you would also have done spring cleaning from time to time at home, preventing dust from accumulating at a single spot.

Let Lifeline Cleaning Rid Your Workplace of Dust!

Since dust is the culprit of it all, it is high time your office gets a good spring cleaning this Chinese New Year! Other than spring cleaning your desk and the area around it, you should also try to keep fewer items on your desk overnight for the dust to settle on. Dust mites and allergens are invisible to the naked eye, so you definitely want to have professionals come in and do a thorough job to ensure a clean and safe environment for your colleagues and yourself.

Here at Lifeline Cleaning, we provide professional office cleaning services and high dusting services to clean unreachable areas and areas which are often overlooked in your workplace. Visit our website today to get a free quote.

Other than your own home, the second place that you will be spending most of your time would be your workplace. You keep your house spotless, but is your office anywhere as clean as your bedroom? Read on to find out the grimiest spots of your workplace that you can help to keep clean – or avoid! 

1. Your Trusty Keyboard and Mouse

It might not be news to you that our hands are our dirtiest body part since they come into contact with countless foreign objects daily. Surprise surprise, what do our hands come into contact with the most on a regular workday? Our computer keyboard and mouse! 

Research has shown that an estimated 16 million microbes which include E.Coli, Staph, salmonella and norovirus (a cousin of Covid-19) cover the nooks and crannies of your keyboard. As for your mouse, there are at least 46 000 times more icky stuff on it than on a single toilet flush handle. 

However, you can always clean them up easily with antibacterial wipes weekly, or if you feel like it, maybe even daily. 

2. That One Sponge in The Kitchen 

Did you know that the coffee mugs in your office might contain germs and bacteria from faecal matter? Yes – you read that right, you could be sipping on nasty stuff right now and the culprit? The dishwashing sponge in the pantry that has been in use for the past 3 months. The reason why the dishwashing sponge can hold a high amount of germs and bacteria is due to the fact that it is almost always moist and absorbent, which makes it a perfect host for E.Coli and salmonella. In fact, these bacteria can start growing within 3 weeks of using the sponge. 

Keeping the dishwashing sponge clean and safe is fairly easy. Simply change one every 2 weeks, even if it looks new or usable. 

3. Door Handles

Yes, yet another surface that our hands are constantly in contact with and we don’t just mean the handles on toilet doors or the office door. Door handles on microwave ovens and refrigerators should not be neglected as well. 

To keep these surfaces clean, wipe them with antibacterial wipes daily. You can also use some hand sanitiser after every time your hands come into contact with any of these surfaces. 

4. The Office Refrigerator 

Half-eaten food and perishables are the perfect breeding ground for germs. In fact, the average refrigerator contains about 7900 bacteria colonies forming per unit, per square inch and refrigerators are huge. The produce drawer in itself can house 750 times the amount of bacteria that is safe for our bodies. 

Armed with this knowledge, you can now tell your colleagues to refrain from keeping unfinished food for more than a day, and to clean out the refrigerator with a strong antibacterial cleanser every 2 days. 

5. The Shared Water Dispenser

It is needless to say that communal items or stations house the most germs since many people come into contact with it daily. But the water dispenser only dispenses water, how can it be dirty? Well, moisture is key for bacteria to reproduce and grow, that’s why. It would be disgusting to be drinking contaminated water, wouldn’t it? All the more you should take initiative to keep the office’s water dispenser clean and germ-free. 

Wondering how to clean a water dispenser? We can help you with that. Running hot water through the water dispenser will help to kill any germs on the dispenser and it will also help if you run your water bottle through hot water every day before use. 

Leave it All to Lifeline Cleaning

As an employee in your workplace, it is your responsibility to keep your workstation clean and tidy, but is it really your responsibility to keep the entire office germ-free? Sanitising pantry counter tops, tables, handles and cleaning the refrigerator is just too tedious for any office employee. Choose Lifeline Cleaning today and you can leave your worries of catching any flu bugs or bacteria at work at bay. Visit our website today and explore all available options for professional office cleaning services in Singapore today.