Tip of the Week: How to Stay Sanitary with Your Technology

Whether it’s warranted or not, some people are worried about the spread of the Ebola virus. Office employees should also be concerned with the many other cooties that remain on common surfaces. This points to sanitation as a primary issue, especially in public places like your office. Among many other surprising germ-transmitting mediums, like money, cats, and dogs, technology accumulates a lot of ilk which could potentially spread to the entire office… that is, if you’re not careful to nip it in the bud.

Wash Your Hands, Especially After Sneezing and Coughing
See that guy sneezing and coughing up a lung across the room? He’s not washing his hands before handling the phone. Whatever vile illness has afflicted the poor soul will now spread around the office because he forgot to do something as basic as washing his hands. It should be a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised by how many people don’t wash their hands after sneezing. In fact, according to LiveScience.com, 32 percent of people don’t wash their hands following a sneeze or cough.

Don’t be that guy. Wash your hands before and after handling any technology which frequently gets passed around the office.

Perform Basic Sanitation Procedures
Technology gathers a lot of germs over time, so naturally you should do a routine cleanup. Did you know that the keyboard your fingers rest on most of the day accumulates more germs than the average toilet? Your phone is even worse, as shown by the Ugandan thief who fell victim to Ebola in 2012 from a stolen phone.

But that’s only the start of your problems if you don’t take care of your technology. Dirt and other sorts of filth can accumulate both inside and outside your devices, especially touch-screen phones or tablets. A wretched combination of grime and skin oil can seep into the device and gum up its inner workings. Now that’s nasty!

Another example of poor technology cleanliness can be seen in the huge dust clumps that form on workstation fans. This dust can restrict airflow and cause your workstation to operate at a higher temperature. This increases the risk factor of the machine, and if it overheats and breaks down, you’ll have to spend a hefty fee to replace it. This dust is held together by static electricity, and it can contain any of these gross organisms:

• Dust mites.
• Parasites.
• Hair.
• Lint.
• Spider webs.
• Dead skin.
• Fecal material.

Obviously, this isn’t ideal. By using paper towels and a can of compressed air, you can keep your computer’s insides clean.

Don’t Eat at Your Desk
The average keyboard is pretty grimy, but eating your lunch at your desk isn’t helping any. Food crumbs can fall in between the keys, and it will continue to break down and attract ants and other insects. These bugs continue to devour and lay their eggs in the crumbs. The eggs then hatch and the larvae feed on the crumbs, too. Isn’t nature beautiful?

Cleaning the keyboard is simple enough. Simply flip it upside down and shake it real hard. The crumbs should fall out easily enough. Then, wipe down your keyboard with disinfectant. Afterward, think about how these food particles are filled with tiny parasites and be grateful you cleaned the keyboard when you did.

For more tips on how to properly clean both the insides (software) and the outsides (hardware) of your company’s technology, give Heart of Texas Network Consultants a call at (254) 848-7100. We’ll advise you on proper technology care to keep the real bugs out of your system, while providing remote IT maintenance to counter the digital bugs.