Office Germs: Safe for Work

The Editors of Office Product Reviews at Best Choice Reviews decided to research the topic of:

SAFE FOR WORK?

Keeping clean and healthy in the office may be harder than you think.

• 1 in 3 office workers have witnessed co-workers leaving restrooms without washing their hands.
• 53% of Americans don't wash their hands after exchanging money.
• The average person touches 300 surfaces every 30 minutes, exposing themselves to 840,000 germs.

Diligent washing, wiping and sanitizing can help office professionals reduce their rates of cold and flu by as much as 80%.

• 72% of Americans typically go to work when they are sick.
• 55% of workers say they feel guilty when they call in sick.
• 78% of workers say they wash their hands often.
• 15% of workers avoid shaking hands with people to avoid germs.
• 3% skip meetings where sick people are in attendance.

Just how dirty is my office?

Researchers swabbed about 5,000 surfaces in office buildings, including law firms, insurance companies, healthcare offices, call centers and factories. The swabs were analyzed with a device that measures adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is a molecule found in all animal, vegetable, bacteria, yeast and mold cells.

High ATP levels are present in food or other organic residues left on surfaces. The more ATP found on a surface, the more likely it's flourishing with bacteria and viruses. An ATP reading of over 100 suggests a surface could use a scrub-down. Readings of 300 or higher are considered officially dirty and at high risk for spreading illness.

ATP counts of 300 or higher

• 75% of break room sink faucet handles
• 48% of microwave door handles
• 27% of keyboards
• 26% of refrigerator door handles
• 23% of water fountain buttons
• 21% of vending machine buttons
• ATP counts of 100 or higher
• 91% of break room sink faucet handles
• 80% of microwave door handles
• 69% of keyboards
• 69% of refrigerator door handles
• 53% of water fountain buttons
• 51% of all computer mice
• 51% of all desk phones
• 48% of all coffee pots and dispensers
• 43% of vending machine buttons

Office hygiene tips

• Keep hand sanitizer at your desk and use it immediately after every meeting or conference.
• Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer when you get to work, especially after riding mass transit, such as trains or buses.
• Use disinfectant wipes to clean your desk at least once a day.
• Keep hand sanitizer in the break room to reinforce hand hygiene.

Safe Bodybuilding Practices

When lifting weights and trying to build muscle, safe bodybuilding practices are very important. Without exercising proper safety, the chance of injury is increased dramatically. Bodybuilding requires a lot of discipline and hard work.

Lifting heavy weights is all part of the process of building a strong, muscular body. However, when handled incorrectly, heavy weights can cause a lot of damage to the human body.

An injury like a torn rotator cuff can stop someone from lifting weights for months. It’s ironic that many of the basic lifting methods are crucial for safe bodybuilding.

Proper Warm-up and Cool down

Properly warming up and cooling down help dramatically to make bodybuilding safer. Someone who is bodybuilding should always start with some warm-up exercises. Since everyone has a different body, there is no such thing as the perfect warm-up or cool down.

However, it’s a good idea to aim for about 15 minutes of warm-up exercise, which is important to get blood flowing efficiently. After lifting heavy weights, it’s important to cool down. Bodybuilders can simply do five minutes of stretching for an adequate cool down.

Low to High

A common problem that novice bodybuilders make is starting too heavy. Although it might seem like a good idea to start lifting as heavy as possible, it’s actually detrimental and unsafe. It’s very important to start with lighter weights and work your way up.

After one or two sets with lighter weights, you can increase the weight that you’re lifting. By starting with lighter weights, you’re dramatically decreasing your chance of injury. Much like an automobile should be warmed before being driven, muscles also require a proper warm up.

Understand Your Limits

Every human body is different. The only way to discover the limits of various muscles groups is to test them. It shouldn’t take more than a few workouts to determine the limits of each of your muscle groups. By understanding what your body’s limits are, you will be able to avoid going beyond your limits.

It’s common for bodybuilders to overestimate their body’s limit, which leads to lifting too heavy and injuries. Once you know your limits, you will be able to prevent serious injury. However, this tip doesn’t mean that you should lift weights that are too light to stimulate muscle growth.

Don’t Feed Your Ego

Another safe bodybuilding practice is to avoid ego feeding. Upon entering their gym, most men feel like they’re there to impress someone. It’s important to understand that the gym is not a bodybuilding competition.

When feeding your ego through lifting weights that are too heavy, it’s much harder to make progress, and you set yourself up for serious injuries, which can put a temporary end to your bodybuilding efforts. Understand that bodybuilding is a slow process, and virtually any process used to dramatically change a body’s appearance is going to take a lot of time.

Another safe bodybuilding practice is the use of a spotter, which is a person or machine that prevents injury. A spotter is a person or machine that is always ready to grab a weight when the lifter cannot complete a rep. These are some simple but effective safe bodybuilding practices that can be implemented immediately. This has been a post from the Aussie Vince Del Monte website. If you'd like to know how to get beefed up within 6 months, you need to check out Vince's problem.

Simple Skincare for Great looking Skin

Caring for your skin can get a little tricky. First of all, you have to understand that your skin is different from other people so you need to find your own skin care regimen. You can start by determining your particular skin type. If you have the budget, it would be best to consult a specialist who can suggest the best skin care products for your particular case.

Great skin care doesn’t have to be costly. There are many good skin care products that are affordable. To start off, a gentle skin cleanser for your skin type can do wonders. Also don’t forget to moisturize since dry skin can lead to premature signs of skin aging like fine lines. Another product you need if you want to have great skin and prevent premature signs of skin aging is sunscreen.

Several studies indicate that damage from the sun is one of the leading causes of skin aging. This is why you need to use the appropriate sunscreen depending on how long you will be exposed to the sun. Remember that a healthy diet and drinking plenty of water can also help you have healthy and great-looking skin. Skin care doesn’t have to be complicated in order to be effective.

Following these simple tips can help you achieve and maintain beautiful and younger-looking skin.