Is your office desk making you ill? Probably... : Tech Digest

Next month sees the start of Computer Cleaning Week (no, I'm not making this up) and to celebrate this event, a survey has been carried out about the state of office desks. And guess what? Yes, they might need cleaning.

Around 71% of office workers believe their dirty workspace is making them ill and 'hot desking' is a major culprit for spreading bugs throughout the office. What’s more, 80% admitted that they share they’re workstations, including computer and phone with at least one other colleague, spreading germs further.

Obviously, these people could clean their desks rather moaning about it to market research companies, something that's backed up by celebrity cleaner Kim Woodburn, who says: “The survey revealed that both men and women don't seem to care about sneezing or coughing without covering their mouths. Picking spots, wiping noses with hands, scratching heads and touching hair are other habits that spread germs. It's astounding the number of people who go the toilet and then don't wash their hands, or retrieve things from the bin – again without cleaning their hands.”

She continued: “Desks can be filthy things and any item resting upon them harbours untold amounts of grime and bacteria. If you're going to put your dirty hands on keyboards and sneeze while you're on the phone, there's no doubt that you'll expose your equipment to all sorts of unpleasant organisms, so it is time we tackled this problem head on and eliminate these germs, before we all get ill!”

So between 17th - 22nd September 2007, you can do just that. Or you can stop moaning and do it now.

Computer Cleaning Week website