If you are in any doubt about the wisdom of spending on workplace hygiene products, please find the results of some research among office workers worldwide conducted for one of our suppliers, Tork.

This exercise has suggested health and cleanliness standards may influence, more than was realised previously, the ability of businesses to recruit and retain valuable staff.

The research found that large percentages of employees care greatly about the quality of hygiene products used in their workplaces and are significantly concerned about the health and cleanliness standards of their colleagues, for example.

But it also revealed that many businesses are not living up to their responsibilities to maintain a healthy environment consistently and unveiled widespread doubts among the workers about whether their employers really care about their well being.

The research, commissioned by Tork, a brand of Essity, the global hygiene and health products company, comprised a survey and interviews among 8,000 office workers, based in 17 city regions, including London, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Sydney.

A whopping 80 per cent of respondents said they would tell their office or facility manager if they were dissatisfied with the quality of hygiene products used in their workplaces.

Over half said hygiene levels among individuals in their offices differed significantly, while more than 60 per cent admitted to feeling uncomfortable at seeing crumbs and stains from other employees’ food around their premises. In addition, over half the workers said they often worried about becoming infected by colleagues who came to work when sick.

In broadly similar vein, 40 per cent of respondents said they didn’t feel relaxed about having to use the same bathrooms as people they didn’t really know.

Despite the obvious importance of hygiene issues for the workers, around 40 per cent of them said they sometimes found paper and soap dispensers empty and that washrooms had not been cleaned properly, while only just over half agreed that their employer cared about their well being.

Speedy Marquee’s assortment of workplace hygiene products features a wide selection from Tork. This includes soaps and cleansing gels, towels, napkins, air fresheners, cleaning cloths, toilet and kitchen rolls, plus dispensers for many of these items.