Research Reveals 3 Dirtiest Places in the Office

Image courtesy of Furniture at Work

Simply opening the door to your workplace may be the most hazardous thing you do during your workday. New research from office furniture suppliers Furniture at Work found that office door handles had the largest amount of bacteria—30 times more than toilets seats in the office restroom.

The research tested several areas of a busy office to determine the amount of relative light units (RLU) they contained, which is directly correlated with the number of bacteria and other contaminants in an area. The door handle to the main office door had a reading of 648 RLU, followed by the breakroom sink (487 RLU) and the microwave door (408 RLU). In comparison, a toilet seat in the office restroom produced a result of just 21 RLU. 

The remaining top 10 germy office areas were:

• Staff member mobile phones
• Breakroom kettle
• Restroom sink
• Office chair
• Breakroom fridge
• Desk phone

“As workers prepare to return to the office, many potentially with a feeling of trepidation, our research has helped to highlight the areas where employers must work hard to maintain hygiene and employees should be extra careful,” said a spokesperson from Furniture at Work. “The fact that a toilet seat carries 30 times less bacteria than a door handle proves why hand hygiene is still so important.”