How Clean is your desk?

[Cptn Corizon 0]

I saw this and thought it was worth a few chuckles. My work desk earned a B...if only becase we have no carpet and the chairs are leather hehe.

 

 

Quiz: How Gross is Your Desk?

Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor

 

How clean is your workspace? If you're like most, the answer would be "not very."

 

In fact, many microbiologists say you're better off eating lunch in the restroom than your office, as the average desk has 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat!

 

Unsanitary as they are (with 20,961 germs per square inch), desks aren't even the worst offenders. A study on office cleanliness performed by the University of Arizona found that phones are even more unsanitary -- harboring 25,127 germs per square inch on the receiver alone!

 

Are you working in filth? Take this quiz to find out:

 

1. How would your co-workers describe the state of your office/cubicle?

a. A pristine, well-ordered oasis of calm.

b. A bit messy, but with no discernable odors.

c. Except for the guy in the haz-mat suit, no one's stopped by recently.

 

2. How many stains are on your carpeting and chairs?

a. None.

b. One or two I can't seem to get rid of.

c. Hard to say; they're part of the upholstery's pattern by now.

 

3. How often do your clean you keyboard?

a. At least twice a month I use the soft-brush attachment of my mini vacuum or an aerosol spray of compressed air from the computer store to get rid of crumbs and dust. Then I use a cotton swab dipped in warm soapy water and patted dry to clean the keys.

b. Every now and then I turn the computer upside down, tap out any crumbs, then turn it upright and lightly brush off the keys.

c. Only when I spill coffee on it.

 

4. Do you eat at your desk?

a. Not if I can avoid it.

b. Yes, lunch -- three or four days a week.

c. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks! This is my home-away-from-home, after all!

 

5. How often and for how long do you wash your hands during the day?

a. Before and after eating, after using the restroom and after touching anything particularly grimy looking. During cold and flu season, I take special care to wash after touching appliances, buttons and doorknobs in the common areas and after shaking hands. I lather up for at least 15 seconds before rinsing.

b. Before eating and after using the restroom, I give them a quick wash.

c. Too busy to bother -- but I do make time to grab from the candy dish and pick through the doughnuts at the coffee station on my way back from the bathroom!

 

6. Do you work near a window?

a. Yes, and I leave it open to let fresh air in every day.

b. Yes, but I only open it now and then.

c. No, but as mentioned above, I am close to the coffee station and our admin's candy dish.

 

7. How many live plants are in your workspace?

a. Two or more.

b. One.

c. None, unless you count my moldy Chia pet.

 

8. For what purposes do you use your desk other than to work on?

a. To hold a glass of water or other beverage.

b. As a table for lunch or a snack, and a rest for my briefcase.

c. Table, footrest, gum-holder and manicure station.

 

9. When's the last time you washed your desktop?

a. I clean it with disinfectant wipes or dish detergent weekly.

b. I wipe it down three or four times a year.

c. Never. And it's kinda sticky.

 

Your Answer Profile:

 

Mostly As. Congratulations. You are an expert in hygiene management. Thank you for making the office a more sanitary place.

 

Mostly Bs. You're about average. But now that you know just how dirty middle-of-the-road is, why not aspire to do better?

 

Mostly Cs. Rope off the area and get out the chalk. You're working in a grime scene! Repent, and watch your health -- and professional image -- improve!

 

Copyright 2006 CareerBuilder.com.

[Guest Vulcan3324]

Mostly b's, with an a and c now and then.

 

Could be worse. :unsure:

[Nicolas Lepage 0]

Erm...too many Cs and only a few Bs. Well, I try to think positive, my immune system is prepared for pretty much anything that way.

[will_marx 0]

Mostly b's, with an a and c now and then.

 

Could be worse. :unsure:

 

Ditto. Except my desk can't be messy or dirty since 1) I'm in a corridor, 2) it's covered with a clipboard, two 3 ring binders, a laptop, a phone, and what other miscellaneous solid bovine excrement the administration an drop on it during a day, and 3) it's barely big enough for item 2 as it is.

[STSF Seiben 0]

5 A's, 3 B's and a C. Yay! Excuse me whilst I dust off my desk :unsure:

[STSF NDak 0]

1 A, 5 B's, and 3 C's

[WxMurray 0]

I got mostly As and the occasional C. No Bs, though. :unsure: Of course, this is my desk in my dorm. And when I get a job I will be sharing a desk. ;)

[STSF Jami 0]

Wow - 4 As and 5 Bs, but my office is in my home :unsure: .

 

As for #5 C, all I can say is Eeewwwwwwww...

[Col. C.E. Harper 0]

3, 5, and 9 need "a-and-one-half" answers; the difference between the a and b is just too extreme. LOL But mostly Bs... That's not bad, I think, given that we're all a little too germ-obsessed for my tastes as it is.

[will_marx 0]

3, 5, and 9 need "a-and-one-half" answers; the difference between the a and b is just too extreme. LOL But mostly Bs... That's not bad, I think, given that we're all a little too germ-obsessed for my tastes as it is.

 

Be that as it may, at least we're not like Howard Hughes in his later years. He was really OCD about germs.

[Kansas_Jones 0]

Okay, I had mostly a's, a few b's, and a random c thrown in. I can deal with that.

[will_marx 0]

Okay, I had mostly a's, a few b's, and a random c thrown in. I can deal with that.

She's a neat freak! ;) :unsure:

[Kansas_Jones 0]

She's a neat freak! ;) :unsure:

 

Sad, but true.

[STSF NDak 0]

Kitties are exceptionally clean. :unsure:

[Kansas_Jones 0]

Kitties are exceptionally clean. :unsure:

 

That explains it!

 

I have to pass a story along about my last place of employment. It was a smaller office, say about 7 smaller rooms with one large work area. Filthy! The office had been in operation for about ten years around 2004-2005. I tell you - it was never (properly) cleaned in all that time. I kept my little desk area clean, but the rest was hopeless. It's like a tug of war btw the building owner and the owner of the business; no one takes the inititiative to get the place cleaned properly, thinking the other is responsible.

 

Dust coating computer wires, large dust balls everywhere, the rug never cleaned and all kinds of stains, the walls had streaks/patches of dirt, the computer wires themselves were just jumbles and jumbles, dirt in the corners, roach/ant traps never re-moved. And it was so bad as time went on, you didnt want to touch anything. The few times it was tried, it set me into a reaction coughing fit with the dust level, and the office manager had asthma anyway...so yeah. I can only imagine what it looks like now. A family member of mine is still there, but like me, she keeps her little desk area clean. Oh and Lysol, lotsa Lysol.

 

The place screams HazMat Squad.

[mtporter 0]

I made the other girls in my office take this quiz with me and we got mostly b's. But I think that is saying a lot since I work for the trash company. When I step outside our office it is a transfer station where all the trash comes before it goes to the landfills. Every work order I get has been sitting in a trash truck with the driver all day. So needless to say I would never eat off the floor, I was my hands 20 times a day and use sanitizer like it is going out of style. So Kansas I feel you pain with the dirty office.

 

On a side note its rather funny that I work there since I have a huge fear of trash and being burried in it.

Edited October 13, 2006 by mtporter

[will_marx 0]

Now, mind you if this had come out last year, while I was in Iraq, my answers would have been mostly C's, a handful of B's and maybe an A. Only because of the following:

1. I was in Iraq.
   
2. The sand was a fine powder, almost like talcum powder
   
3. Sandstorms. ('Nuff said there)
   
4. The construction of the buildings we were occupying left a lot to be desired
   
5. The lack of basic home improvement materials (i.e. caulk), leading us to improvise with duct tape
   
6. Air conditioners aren't airtight
   
7. Duct tape's adhesive qualities only last so long in 140+ degree weather
   
8. Have I mentioned that the sand was like a powder?
   

[WxMurray 0]

I'm in a computer lab at the moment, and the thought of cleanliness occurred to me. Every day scores of students use these computers. There are 42,000+ students on this campus, and I can guarantee you that not all of them are healthy. One look at the waiting room in the University Health Services building can assure you of that. That said, I can only imagine just how many and what sort of germs are on this mouse and keyboard. Would it really be that difficult to have someone from Housing go through during low traffic hours and give everything a quick wipedown with a Clorox wipe or something?

 

Even worse is the meteo department computers. Those things are never cleaned. You can tell by the visible layer of grime on the computer keys that can be wiped off with a little effort. Those machines are even worse than the regular labs.

 

There is something to be said for proper hygene and healthy practices on a campus this size.

[STSF NDak 0]

::resists commenting on the fact that it's Penn State::

 

I know that at the main computer labs at my school (the downtown library, the math lab, the Life Sciences Lab, and the HSC Lab) they clean the computer stations nightly. But I did read a report unrelated to this one about how dirty most computer labs are.

[Arthur (Rackle) Dragoon 0]

I have a grade C.....than a B....than an A......i have 1 more Cs then Bs. So i better rope of the Area :unsure:

[Captain Huff 0]

lol, all C's except for the hand-washing one (whew!).

 

Though to be fair, that was just my computer desk at home. I have a traveling work-station most of the time. But... I think I'd score the same on that one, lol.

[Travis Kroells 0]

::puts down his soup to type::

 

I'm not even going to comment on my desk. All I'll say, is that many now believe that the computer has bonded with the organic objects on my desk, creating some sort an evil demon motherboard...or such.

[will_marx 0]

::puts down his soup to type::

 

I'm not even going to comment on my desk. All I'll say, is that many now believe that the computer has bonded with the organic objects on my desk, creating some sort an evil demon motherboard...or such.

 

 

Well...should that computer fall through a temporal vortex, we'll at least have an idea of where the Borg originated from.

[Spitfire 0]

Well...should that computer fall through a temporal vortex, we'll at least have an idea of where the Borg originated from.

 

ROFL!!! :unsure:

 

No Cs, a lot of Bs, and an A here and there.

[Travis Kroells 0]

Well...should that computer fall through a temporal vortex, we'll at least have an idea of where the Borg originated from.

 

Just contributing to society.