Meet Dave – the least hygienic man in Britain

Let’s prove the point of how poor hygiene can negatively impact your office by introducing you to Dave Shipton. Say hi, Dave. You can’t see him, but he’s waving.

Dave is 33 years old, works in an office consisting of 12 other colleagues and, completely unknown to him, is referred to as Smelly Dave by all of his workmates.
Poor Dave.Poor, poor Dave Shipton.
But, really, the reputation is well-deserved – he doesn’t wash regularly, he rarely flushes the office toilet and, once he’s done not flushing, he never rinses his hands with hot water and antibacterial soap. To top it all off, his body odour has the ability to knock you unconscious when you’re hit with its stench.
Put simply, the man is a behemoth of poor hygiene.
So, how is his poor hygiene negatively impacting on his work colleagues?
Well, without washing his hands properly after using the bogs, Dave is risking passing on E coli, the faecal germ, to anyone who comes into contact with him, as well as a host of other nasty bugs.
With such a poor hygiene schedule, Dave is also risking inflicting illness on himself, allowing germsto surround him like an invisible army.
It’s not just a problem for Smelly Dave and his cohorts – washroom company Initial found that illness costs companies €830 for every employee per year. Even more disgustingly, the company also found that 1 in 6 employees surveyed admitted to not washing their hands after going to the toilet.
Indeed, Smelly Dave is far from alone – there are hordes of people causing illness, absence and a foul BO scent in offices all across the UK.
Fighting the scourge of the Smelly Daves
What can be done to remedy the issue?
The most effective step a company can take is to make their washrooms as appealing and up-to-date as possible. After all, no discerning employee is going to want to wash in a place that doesn’t even look clean.
Try adding a fresh lick of paint to your washroom, and install hand dryers, anti-bacterial toilet cleaners and health and safety signs that explain the necessity for good hygiene.
Maybe even consider keeping various deodorants in your washroom to tempt the Smelly Daves in your office to freshen up a bit.
With improved knowledge of good hygiene and an upgrade to your washroom, Smelly Dave might give up his “smelly” moniker, and simply become Dave Shipton once again.