As flu season approaches, Australian businesses face the annual challenge of keeping their workforce healthy and productive. Whether you're managing an office space, restaurant, retail outlet, warehouse or something entirely different, implementing smart workplace hygiene practices can significantly reduce sick days and keep your business running smoothly.

Every industry brings its own challenges – from high-traffic retail environments to shared office spaces – but all face similar concerns: how do you protect your team's health and maintain productivity when cold and flu viruses are circulating? These practical tips will help you establish hygiene standards that keep your workplace healthy year-round.

Make a Workplace Health and Safety Plan

Regardless of business type, employers and business owners should establish a workplace health and safety plan that addresses hygiene concerns. This includes identifying high-touch areas, establishing cleaning schedules, and ensuring you’ve got the right supplies on hand. Safe Work Australia has created a four-step risk assessment process that shows you how to: 

  1. Identify hazards
  2. Assess risks
  3. Control risks
  4. Review control measures

Ensure a Hygienic Entry to the Workspace

Wall-mounted hand sanitiser dispenser dripping liquid into an open palm.

Whether you run an office or retail outlet, gym or cafe, it’s a good idea to provide antibacterial hand sanitiser stations throughout your workplace – particularly at the entrance. Set up signs encouraging anyone entering or exiting to use the sanitiser and choose a quick-drying product to avoid drips, splashes and usage delays.

First impressions matter, and showing your team (and customers) that you're taking their health seriously can boost morale and confidence during the winter months when bugs are most likely to spread. 

How to Keep Individual Desks and Workstations Clean

A person wearing a yellow rubber glove pulls a disinfectant wipe from an orange-lidded canister.

Keeping workspaces clean is especially important if you use hot-desking or if multiple people frequent a single workspace, such as a reception area or cash register. Have hospital-grade spray disinfectant and disposable paper towels readily available so your employees can nix germs before work by wiping down surfaces such as a desk, computer screen, register, phone or door handle. 

Why not establish handy safety stations stocked with these products, along with tissues and disinfectant wipes, which are easy to grab and use on surfaces and equipment at short notice?

How to Keep Shared Kitchens Clean and Safe

Your office kitchenette or kitchen space can be a hotspot for germs to spread. Encourage employees to get involved in maintaining hygiene standards in these shared areas. Steps such as washing dishes straight after use, rather than leaving them in the sink, and wiping down surfaces immediately with high-grade disinfectant and disposable paper towels are simple, effective ways to keep high-traffic spaces spick-and-span – and germ-free.  

How to Maintain Hygiene in High-Traffic Public and Meeting Areas

A hand cleaning an EFTPOS terminal on a wooden counter using a paper towel, with the other hand holding a spray bottle, and a point‑of‑sale tablet also on the counter.

In addition to the spray, towels and wipes, it’s a good idea to have antibacterial hand sanitiser available around areas that have heavy foot traffic – at a cash register, reception, retail showroom, meeting rooms or restaurant floor. This benefits both customers and employees who may be handling products, equipment and cash throughout the day.

Make sure you’ve got cleaning supplies – like disinfectant wet wipes – on hand to regularly clean frequently touched spaces, from door handles to benchtops, air-con controls to light switches. During flu season, increase the frequency of cleaning these high-touch areas to help reduce the spread of illness.

Essential Hygiene Practices for Shared Bathrooms

Good hand hygiene is your first line of defence against flu and cold viruses. Make a quality liquid hand wash available – even better if it’s an automatic dispenser – for bathrooms that receive employee and customer traffic. Use a well-placed wall sign to remind visitors how long and often to wash their hands. 

Opt for hand dryers or disposable paper towels and dispensers over washable cloth towels, particularly if you have a large number of people using the shared bathroom. Durable paper towels are also a great way to keep bathroom spaces germ-free – again, encourage your employees to help by wiping down surfaces after use, with a spritz of disinfectant spray.    

What to Try 

This article was originally published in January 2021 and has since been updated.