England’s winter is famously damp, grey, and unpredictable, with cold air, frequent rain, and very little sunlight. Short days and persistent chill push people indoors, where windows close and fresh air becomes scarce.
That shift sets the stage for flu season in offices. Enclosed spaces, recirculated air, and constant contact with shared surfaces make workplaces ideal environments for virus transmission. As employees spend more time inside meeting rooms, breakrooms, and open-plan areas, the combination of close proximity and high-touch surfaces significantly increases the risk of infections spreading across the office. During the season of respiratory diseases, the office ceases to be just a workspace. It turns into a complex ecosystem of contacts, surfaces and air currents, where the transmission of pathogens can occur imperceptibly, but very quickly. Viral and bacterial transmission in such conditions is rarely limited to one route. It usually combines an airborne mechanism and a contact path through surface contamination.
Viable viruses can persist on typical office surfaces for 24 to 72 hours. During this time, one infected employee can start a chain of cross-contamination affecting a significant part of the premises, which is why structured protocols similar to those used in professional office cleaning services become increasingly relevant. Observations show that in 2–4 hours, pathogens can spread to 40–60% of office surfaces, especially in areas of active traffic.
Touch Points As A Hidden Infection Infrastructure
High-frequency touch points play the greatest role in the spread of infection. These are door handles, elevator buttons, light switches, railings, keyboards, mice, phones, and touchscreens. They form the invisible infrastructure of pathogen transmission.
The average office employee touches about 300 surfaces in 30 minutes. This number looks abstract until you compare it with another fact: approximately 20% of surfaces are responsible for up to 80% of cross-contamination. This imbalance makes the touch point map not a formality, but a risk management tool.
Shared spaces are particularly vulnerable. Bathrooms, recreation rooms and kitchens, conference rooms and reception areas are constantly in intensive contact mode. Desktops often remain out of focus, although they contain on average 400 times more bacteria than a toilet seat. The illusion of “personal purity” plays against prevention here.
Cleaning And Disinfection: Where Efficiency Is Most Often Lost
One of the key problems remains the substitution of concepts. Cleaning removes visible dirt and organic contaminants, but does not eliminate pathogens. Disinfection works only if two conditions are met: pre-cleaning and correct exposure time.
The typical “wet” contact time of the device is about 4–10 minutes. Its reduction drastically reduces the result. Therefore, during the period of increased morbidity, the two-step “cleaning → disinfection” scheme becomes the basic standard.
Microfiber color coding, separate inventory for risk zones, and strict checklists are used to prevent contamination transfer. Without staff training and protocol compliance monitoring, even the most effective means lose their meaning.
Air, Processing Frequency And Measurable Result
The surfaces are only part of the picture. HVAC systems are capable of recirculating up to 95% of the indoor air, which enhances airborne transmission. The use of HEPA filtration makes it possible to trap up to 99.97% of particles up to 0.3 microns in size, reducing the concentration of aerosol pathogens.
During peak periods, it is recommended to process elevator buttons and similar elements every 2 hours. For soft surfaces, hot-water extraction and steam treatment methods are used. The effectiveness is confirmed by ATP testing, where contamination reduction can reach 99.9%.
Proper hand hygiene remains critically important. Hand washing for at least 20 seconds and using sanitizers with an alcohol concentration of at least 60% reduce the risk of respiratory diseases by16–21%.
Employee Health And Sustainability Of Office Processes
Insufficient prevention leads to increased sick leave and presenteeism. The presence of sick employees reduces productivity by about 21% and accelerates the spread of infection. In the United States, about 17 million working days per year are lost due to the flu, and productivity losses per sick employee are estimated at about $1,000.
Observations show that correct cleaning protocols can reduce the transmission of viruses in the office by up to 80%. Comprehensive programs are associated with a reduction in sick days by about 13.4% and a reduction in medical expenses by 11.2%. As a result, cleaning becomes not an expense, but a tool for maintaining a stable and safe working environment.
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