Have you cleaned your keyboard today?

By Stephen Withers
Friday, 09 May 2008 10:20

Opinion and Analysis

When I saw the recent spate of newspaper and web headlines about germs on keyboards I thought they most likely originated from a study performed by or on behalf of a company that sells cleaning products. But that wasn't the case.

The research was performed on behalf of UK consumer organisation Which?, so that blows away my suspicions of vested interests at work.

Which? officials said tests on keyboards from a typical London office (no jokes about Londoners, please!) revealed the presence of bacteria that could cause diarrhoea and other stomach upsets.

Eating at the desk and poor personal hygiene were said to be likely causes.

An accompanying Which? report on cleaning PCs suggests using a damp cloth to clean keyboards, followed by alcohol wipes to kill the bacteria.

"Alcohol-free wipes are gentler on your keyboard and won’t rub letters off but only alcohol wipes will rid your keyboard of germs," warned Which? officials.

A few days after the Which? article was published, Silicon.com reported that the UK's National Health Service is introducing infection resistant keyboards to hospitals.

Developed by University College London Hospital, the keyboards are completely flat, covered with a material that resists bacteria growth, and fitted with a light to indicate that cleaning is due. How often? Every 12 hours seems to be the go.

Interestingly, the introduction of the warning light also led to an increase of up to 10 percent in hand washing.