The study, which conducted a poll of 1,000 workers, also found that 80 percent of people working in an office wouldn’t think to wash their hands before making drinks for colleagues.
Scientists have found that your office teabags can carry as many as 17 times more germs than a toilet seat.
According to the study carried out by the Initial Washroom Hygiene scientists, the average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Read: Beware of these top 10 disease-ridden public places when you go out
The findings also revealed high bacterial readings on other pieces of kitchen equipment that are integral parts of making tea – kettle handles (2,483), the rim of a used mug (1,746) and a fridge door handle (1,592).
Dr. Peter Barratt of Initial Washroom Hygiene believes that offices should be more aware of the levels of hygiene in their communal kitchens. Read: Five simple tips to avoid germs in public washroom
“If you stop to think about the number of different hands that touch things such as the kettle handle, tea bag box lid, mugs, and so on, the potential for cross contamination really adds up,” Dr. Barratt added.
He further adds that using anti-bacterial wipes on kitchen surfaces and regularly cleaning the mug can pay huge dividends in terms of maintaining a healthy workforce.
The staggering results obtained by analyzing the bacterial readings of kitchen utensils and appliances were reported in The Independent.
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