Workers need to come clean about hygiene

[Guest guest]

Workers need to come clean about hygiene

COMMENTARY by DANA KNIGHT, The Indianapolis Star

It appears some of you squeaky-clean-looking employees had a

hygiene lapse in the past year. You didn't wash your hands after

using the toilet. Ewww. Why?

You thought you were getting away with the nasty habit, right? Well,

your co-workers noticed and are whispering in disgust. Not to mention

you're spreading germs all over the keyboards and boardroom doors at

work.

I'm not picking on you. Just doing my duty and reporting the facts

from a study by ServiceMaster Clean, a Memphis, Tenn.-based

janitorial services company that surveyed 545 workers on the

cleanliness of the workplace.

The number of employees who saw a co-worker leave the restroom

without scrubbing rose to 54 percent, compared with 45 percent in

2004.

The same survey found 54 percent of employees have watched colleagues

take their work or company magazines into the restroom and 60 percent

have seen a co-worker's dirty dishes sitting out for days.

" It's an interesting phenomenon that our behavior seems to have taken

a turn for the worse when it comes to spreading germs in the office, "

says Bauer, vice president with ServiceMaster's business

division.

It is interesting. And, I wondered, is this research biased? After

all, it came from a company that wants offices to be in need of a

good cleaning.

I ventured out to Wal-Mart, a place where just about everyone shops,

to see what the average American is doing. The nonscientific results

of my 20 minutes in the trenches were telling.

As I stood in plain sight, I watched eight people enter the stalls.

Seven of them washed up afterward as they eyed me suspiciously. After

all, there were four vacant toilets. What's this crazy lady doing? I

had to be more inconspicuous.

I went for the hidden human-camera approach and squatted in a stall.

I had to twist and turn to peek under the door and see what was going

on. It turned out when people thought they weren't being watched,

their performance went into the gutter. Just 3 of 11 people washed

their hands.

None of that unsanitary behavior for Rowe. The Noblesville,

Ind., worker is quite in tune with his clean side and appreciates the

touchless technology.

But no-touch comes with a price.

" You never quite know when the toilets are going to go off, " he says.

When they dont, Rowe is forced to use the manual flush button, a

balancing act that involves his foot.

" Never touch anything in the men's room, " he says, forcefully.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/intucson/living/112805e1_cleanhands