Think again before touching your colleague’s phone; new data has revealed one in three Australians are using their mobiles on the toilet at work.
It could even land them with a painful health condition – one worker’s comp probably doesn’t cover.
Aussie workers have fessed up to a number of bad hygiene habits. nna\daniel.jeffrey
About 37 per cent of men and 26 per cent of women admitted to the gross office habit in a new iSelect survey of more than 1000 Aussies.
Workers in Victoria were the worst offenders by state or territory, while Gen Zs and Millennials were the most likely of any generation to use their phone on the porcelain throne.
And it’s not the only questionable hygiene habit Aussie workers are guilty of.
Nearly half have used shared equipment like keyboards without cleaning it, and about one in four have come into work while knowingly sick with a contagious illness.
Nearly one in five have skipped washing their hands after using the office bathroom, though men were much more likely to do it.
About 20 per cent of men didn’t wash their hands compared to less than 15 per cent of women.
Workers aren’t the only ones to blame for germs around the office.
More than one in 10 said the kitchens and bathrooms at their workplace are cleaned less than twice a week.
The research paints a gross picture of the state of hygiene in workplaces.
It could also have health implications for workers, especially those who have been scrolling their newsfeed or playing Candy Crush on the loo.
A US study released last year found that people who used their phone while sitting on the toilet had a 46 per cent higher risk of developing haemorrhoids than those who didn’t.
That’s because they tend to spend a much longer time sitting there, usually without meaning to.
Coming into work while sick with a contagious illness also poses health risks, though your colleagues are the one at risk in that case.
Working indoors, hot-desking and failing to decontaminate office surfaces and shared equipment can make a cold or flu spread through the workplace like wildfire.