Carpets are a popular floor covering in offices because they are comfortable and add to the aesthetics of the office space. And by ensuring that your office carpets are cleaned and well-maintained can you and your employees enjoy these benefits.
But how well you take care of your office carpets will impact the health and well-being of your employees. How? Here is a quick rundown of what can happen:
Carpets Trap Mites, Mold, Pollen and other Allergens
Dust from all the foot traffic in your office will attract dust mites. Your employees may be allergic not just to the dust but also the dust mites and may experience respiratory difficulties as a result.
Waste from dust mites and their desiccated body parts will also affect the quality of your indoor air. Similarly, pollen and other airborne particles may get trapped in the carpet fibers and trigger allergic reactions among your employees.
Again, any spills on your office carpets that are not taken care of right away may encourage the growth of mold. Some of your employees may be allergic to mold spores, and especially those who are asthmatic. Exposure to the mold will trigger a severe reaction, including runny noses, watery eyes, and throat irritation.
Exposure to these allergens will have your employees feeling sick and even calling in sick. Even if your workers don’t miss work, the impact on their health will see them not perform at their most productive.
Long-term Health Effects
It is not enough to consider what exposure to these allergens can do to your employees’ health in the short-term. In the long-term, being in an environment where the indoor air quality is compromised may put your workers at risk of respiratory diseases.
The diseases may not become apparent immediately, but you can be sure that prolonged and repeated exposure to these particles will affect your employees’ health down the road. Even more unfortunate is the fact that some of these respiratory disorders may significantly affect their quality of life for the rest of their days.
Weakened Immunity
Beyond the respiratory problems caused by trapped allergens, your workers’ immunity may become severely compromised. Different bacteria may find their way into your carpet, and as your body tries to fight off the infections resulting from this exposure, your immune system may go into overdrive and become compromised.
A weakened immune system may not be able to fight off other diseases, which means that your workers will be more susceptible to a wide range of diseases.
Increased Risk of Accidents
A build-up of dirt, dust, and other particles on your office carpets can lead to the carpet being worn out prematurely. When this happens, your office carpets may not adhere as well to the floor and will tend to shift easily under the feet. It is not unheard of for accidents to happen as a result of this shifting.
In the event of such an accident, your company will lose productive hours as the affected employee takes time off work to seek medical attention, and depending on the severity of the injury, time to recover. You will also incur the expense of covering medical costs.
Taking Care of Your Employees
Your employees will always be one of your greatest assets as a business. Making their health and well-being a priority will inspire a sense of belonging and worth among them, which will boost their morale, and this will, in turn, improve productivity.
Engaging a professional carpet cleaning service to clean your office carpets regularly is one way to safeguard your employees’ health and well-being. Your indoor air quality will greatly improve, and your staff will not be exposed to allergens and disease-causing bacteria that may affect their health both in the short and long term.
How often you may need to have your office carpets cleaned to guarantee your employees’ health will depend on several factors. Most important is the amount of foot traffic in your office space and your location. For a company situated in a dry and dusty place and where the foot traffic in your office is significant, you may need to have the carpets cleaned more frequently.
Final Thoughts
The cleanliness of your office carpets will affect your employees’ health in the ways highlighted. As a company, you have a responsibility to take care of your staff’s health and well-being. In this context, scheduling regular carpet cleaning will make a big difference.
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