19 June 2019 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal
Only 14 per cent of workers decide when to wash their hands after going to the bathroom, according to a survey into workplace cleanliness.
SMC Premier Cleaning surveyed more than 5,000 UK office workers and found that only 7 per cent admitted to not washing their hands at all and 18 per cent said they washed their hands quickly.
Only 61 per cent of office employees wash their hands properly with warm water and soap and women are slightly more hygienic, with 66 per cent saying they wash their hands thoroughly, compared with 53 per cent of men.
Busy working days can result in office workers not taking a proper lunch break and 26 per cent of respondents say they eat at their desk between once and three times a week.
A quarter of office workers will eat while working 3-5 days and 4 per cent eat lunch at their desk every day. Surprisingly only 11 per cent will clean their workspace properly after eating and 38 per cent will do a 'quick clean', putting wrappers in the bin.
Almost half - 45 per cent - claim never to spill a crumb on their desk, leaving 7 per cent who are too lazy to care and refuse to clean up after themselves.
Hot-desking has grown in popularity over the years, but 44 per cent of those surveyed had never considered the possibility that hot-desking could be germ-ridden and are happy to sit wherever.
Only 12 per cent of hot-deskers are fussy about where they work and will only sit at a desk if they know it has been cleaned first. Only 38 per cent believe hot-desking to be unhygienic.