Office Break Room: Checklist for Keeping Your Space Clean

Unlike closed-door offices, private work spaces, and desk areas – all of which are traditionally unshared spaces and rooms within an office – the communal spaces within every office require lengthy cleaning checklists and a routine cleaning schedule of greater frequency. This goes for all communal spaces, but especially for the office break room because it’s where employees and other types of staff gather to take their breaks and consume food and beverage.

The trick about cleaning an office break room is two-fold. First, maintaining a clean environment is necessary where employees eat and drink, as you can imagine the risks that a contaminated break room poses. Second, the function of an office break room is different from other communal spaces within offices where the same tables, chairs, kitchenware, refrigerator, and other relevant components are used almost all day for the same reasons and by the same people. This kind of cycle makes break room cleaning more challenging. Fear not – here’s an office break room cleaning checklist that’ll help you and your colleagues keep the space clean:

Stop Using Communal Kitchenware

One way to create and manage an effective office break room cleaning checklist is to eradicate the need for certain tasks, such as doing dishes. It’s time consuming and frankly, unsafe. Plates, silverware, cups, mugs, and more – get rid of them and establish a policy which requires employees to bring their own kitchenware.

Cleaning All Storage Components

Food storage components within your break room, such as open and closed-door cabinets and drawers, refrigerators, freezers, and walk-in pantries need to be emptied and their interiors cleaned and disinfected. Oh, and these tasks need to move from your semi-annual cleaning checklist to your (at most) bi-weekly checklist.

Communal Space = Communal Effort

It’s a good idea to create a task for yourself to review all of the tasks in your office break room cleaning checklist, and determine which of those tasks you can group together and assign to every employee. The days of after-hours janitorial staff performing basic maintenance services once every evening are over. Don’t overwhelm your employees and disrupt operations, but do establish new office policies that require small communal cleaning efforts.

The Growing List of Disinfecting Tasks

Especially in the last year, disinfecting has taken on a much greater role in the world of maintenance. Newer, stronger chemical disinfectant solutions have been developed to combat a wider range of pathogens. Similarly, entirely new lines of disinfecting technologies have emerged, such as electro disinfecting machines. Regardless of the cost of the former (chemical disinfecting solutions), you need to equip your office with effective disinfecting supplies. That said, it doesn’t seem sensible to hire or designate a staff member to disinfect high touchpoint surfaces after every single use, does it? Probably not, so read the last section again for ideas on how.

Overall, there are endless office break room cleaning checklists online, like this one! Check it out for more info.