A little bit of dirt…might hurt your profits

Most of us have grown up believing ‘a little bit of dirt never hurt anyone’. The saying is usually bandied about by parents and grandparents when their little one drops an ice cream on the pavement, then carries on eating it. It’s also backed up by scientific evidence showing that childhood exposure to a good diversity of bacteria helps to develop the immune system.

But, what about dirt in the workplace? Not mud-under-the-fingernails dirt, but bacteria and viruses that cause infections and illness. Is that OK too, or could it be harming the bottom line?

Figures show that minor illness such as the common cold, flu and gastroenteritis result in around 45 million lost work days per year in the UK. With an average annual sick pay cost of £522 per employee, this stacks up to a whopping £3.7bn per year in sick pay related to minor illnesses.

Much of the time, these illnesses are spread via hand contact with contaminated surfaces. So, if you’re concerned about the number of staff sick days at your organisation, it might be time to take a closer look at those shared workspaces, phones and communal technology equipment.