Dust is that not all fluffy bunnies and fairy wing sparkles. Dust is simply a pretty word for something actually quite disgusting and unclean. In the real world, dust is composed of dead skin cells, bugs, animal dander, fur, hair fibers, dust mites, pollen, and many other particles you probably never want to know are floating in the air or settled in between the keys of your keyboard.
Whether you are indoors, outdoors, near water or even near a construction site, the components of your dust particles will vary. Dust will even vary depending on where you are in the world. This means that no two dust bunnies are alike, kind of like a snowflake. The only difference is a snowflake normally doesn’t lead to an allergy induced sneezing attack. Unless you’re an elephant*, you probably don’t want dust in your home or office.
* Elephants use dust to bathe and remove parasites.
It is very important to dust your office space regularly and free it of airborne particles. Not only is it unhygienic to allow dust to settle, but also it can be harmful and unsafe. Did you know that dust could cause electronic issues when it accumulates in your electronic devices too long? Issues include overheating, jamming and even fires.
Not dusting can lead to various health issues, especially allergies. Letting dust full of pollen and pet dander settle is like welcoming a runny nose with open arms. Joe in accounting might have some funny stories to tell from his military days, but you won’t want to be near him when he’s sneezing up a boogery storm by the water coolers. GROSS!
Probably one of the most disturbing parts of dust doesn’t even come from the pollen and dander, it comes from the dust mites themselves. In addition to their excrement being one of the major reasons for year-round allergies, they eat the skin cells and oils we shed throughout the day. No dust means, no dust mites.
While it is impossible to shed a workplace 100% of dust, routine cleanings that involve extensive dusting can minimize it. Dusting should be done in every space, even the areas that you don’t see or occupy frequently. Just because no one hangs out in the spare office or supply closet, it doesn’t mean you can ignore dusting those spaces. Dust floats in the air and when you don’t clean it from one space, you are welcoming it to float around and land anywhere.
Make sure your commercial cleaning service or janitorial staff cleans and dusts all spaces and crevasses where dust may land. Let’s be dramatic for a moment and consider this scenario. If you don’t keep your workplace clean and well dusted, then your computer keyboard could jam up and you couldn’t get your work done. Another scenario is your allergies could become so bad that you have to leave the workplace and then you couldn’t get your work done either. So in short, a dusty office could lead to your work not being completed. If your work isn’t completed then you may get fired and no one wants to say they got fired because dust bunnies overran their office and they lost the battle against millions of dust bunny armies. Don’t lose your job, hire someone to dust your office or do it yourself!
