Hygiene policy
Hygiene policy
Overall hygiene policy
Hygiene describes a state of cleanliness, and the concept of hygiene signals the promotion of cleanliness and the prevention of disease. Good hygiene reduces the rate of infection and its spread.
Poor hygiene leads to high costs for sick leave, treatment and care in our broader society. We can make our own contribution to reducing these costs.
Give Steel prioritises a healthy and flexible indoor climate/environment for everyone that is conducive to development. This means that we have goals and principles for hygiene; and thus focus on daily routines and cleaning standards, which have their own impact on well-being and illness. The higher the standard, the greater the state of well-being.
Four good reasons to practice good hygiene at Give Steel
- Happy and healthy employees
Working environment can greatly impact an employee’s happiness at work. Happy and healthy employees are productive and always feel inspired to do their job well. - Stop the spread of bacteria and viruses
By ensuring that basic hygiene standards are followed, we help to reduce the spread of disease-carrying bacteria and viruses, which can be considerable in common areas such as offices and kitchen areas.
Apart from having hygiene rules everyone must follow, it is a shared responsibility to keep the office clean and treat common facilities with a lot of respect. - Prevent illness at the office
An unhygienic workplace increases employee absence in the form of illness and is very resource-intensive. - A good reputation
Employees are not the only people in the office. Customers and suppliers pay us visits from time to time. We want to leave them with a good impression of a proper, tidy and clean workplace. Poor hygiene at our workplace can create a very bad first impression of Give Steel.
Hand hygiene
Hand hygiene is generally performed by washing hands with soap and water. This is the best-documented method of preventing a spread of infection. This applies both to the employee and to other people. Good hand hygiene has a considerable impact on a workplace as it shows (and this is documented) a significant decrease in the number of sick days.
We encourage you to always wash your hands and/or use hand cleanser/gel:
- Before and after breaks
- Before eating
- After eating
- After visiting the toilet
- After cleaning your nose, sneezing and coughing
- When your hands are dirty
- After smoking
Coughing etiquette
Coughing etiquette means covering the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, by coughing into a disposable handkerchief (followed by hand hygiene) or coughing into the bend of your elbow. This prevents the spread of infection from droplets that are coughed or sneezed into the air, e.g. in connection with influenza.
Cleaning and ventilation
Hygiene is linked to cleaning and a good indoor climate.
Frequent, good cleaning helps to reduce the number of infectious diseases, because clean surfaces do not provide conditions where bacteria and viruses can thrive.
Good ventilation helps to reduce airborne infection and sickness absence.
Spread of disease
About 80% of common diseases are spread by touch.
Every time you touch a phone, use your keyboard or click on a mouse, you are spreading bacteria. If you consider the number of common objects and areas you come into contact with every day; from telephones to door handles, kitchens and kettles, and the number of people other than yourself who also come in contact with them, then the risk of bacterial transmission and bacterial formation is enormous.
It is said that an influenza virus can survive on surfaces for up to three days, which makes cleaning and good hygiene a serious matter.
Antibacterial hand soap is an excellent preventative measure. We have placed antibacterial hand soap in places where there is a significant risk of bacterial transmission as we believe this can encourage our employees to take these extra precautions before eating, breaks, smoking and after using the toilet.