Blog
Keep Your Office Blinds Open to Better Control Bacteria
Employees in many
offices are blessed with the bright sunlight that streams through the open
blinds of their windows. But, while some employees appreciate the sun, others
would rather keep the blinds close to shut out some of the sun’s glare.
But, this practice
of closing the window blinds may have a negative effect on workplace health.
How so? Just so you know, keeping your window blinds closed can thwart natural
control of bacteria in your office.
So, how does
bacteria control occur if you just keep the blinds open? Why do you need to
consider making it the policy of your organization to open your office window
blinds and hire the best janitorial services Dallas?
Prevent Bacteria Growth with Sunlight
Research has
revealed the key role of sunlight when it comes to the reduction or prevention
of the development of indoor germs and bacteria in household dust. Researchers
looked into the effects of the conditions of daylighting where dust test groups
had an exposure to visible UV light or lack of light. They also measured
changes in resulting bacterial communities. The study comes in handy in
understanding how bacterial control can be made possible with the help of
sunlight, the most abundant resource in the world.
Generally speaking,
the bacterial communities exposed to UV or visible sunlight had lower
occurrences compared to those with no sunlight exposure. It means that keeping
the blinds open in a room to let the sunlight in can help reduce the numbers of
bacteria growing in dust communities.
Even though the
results of this study refer to household, similar concepts are also applicable
to commercial environments. Bacteria control in workplaces like offices is
essential to maintain a productive and healthy work environment for every
employee. These areas are accessible to all employees who come and go and bring
with them bacteria, dirt, dust, and other types of contaminants as they do so.
Common Types of Bacteria Found in Offices
There are numerous forms
of bacteria present in workplace environments such as offices. Since workplaces
are areas that get heavy traffic, this contributes to spread of these bacteria
among the employees carrying bacteria on their skin, mouths, sinuses, and
intestines.
Below are five of
the most common types of workplace bacteria that employees are often exposed
to:
- Bacillus – This can cause diarrhea, nausea, and other
kinds of gastrointestinal problems.
- Diphtheroids – This can lead to skin lesions.
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa – This can cause eye infections, pneumonia, and UTIs or
urinary tract infections
- Staphylococcus aureus – This is also known as staph as well as its related counterpart
MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
- Streptococcus – Often called strep, this is composed of two
primary groups, namely Group B and Group A. Group A is the more common
between these two and it often typically occurs from late fall to early
spring.
Bacteria control should definitely your top priority now more than
ever. Keeping your window blinds open might be the key for this. And to ensure
that your blinds are clean at all times, Courtesy Building Services Inc.
that provides complete commercial cleaning service in Dallas.