Personal Hygiene in the Workplace

Oscar the grouch was, well, grouchy, obviously. He might have just been lonely. Living in a bin will do that to you. ‘Alternative living’ like that will have a pretty obvious side effect: an appalling smell.

Good personal hygiene goes a long way. Especially when it comes to dealing with other people in the workplace. Let’s face it, your body and clothes will get dirty. You’ll accumulate dirt, food particles, and germs, it’s only natural. But if you don’t clean yourself and your clothes regularly, you’ll start to smell like Oscar. That’s unprofessional. But what if it’s someone you work with? How do you tell them without creating upset? Well, this short course will help.

There’s no easy way of talking about such a sensitive subject, is there? Let’s face it, no-one likes being told that they don’t smell good. Or admitting if that pong in the office is coming from them. We get too embarrassed. So we went the route of following a person who was smelly for a good reason: they’ve been working out at the gym and not had time to shower. It seemed a lot more palatable, not to mention relatable.

In these trying times, it seemed apt to include a section about the crucial role hygiene plays in a pandemic. The course was constructed using a conversational tone with some good humour to keep learners engaged and capped with a quiz to help learners retain what they have learned. We also supplied some useful blended learning such as an infographic and a print-out-and-keep document which explains some of the common causes of poor hygiene and how to recognise them.