Research reveals the average Australian office is dirtier than a toilet

The average office is so dirty, you will want to keep a bottle hand sanitiser close at all times in order to avoid getting sick.

Sickness caused by the spread of germs has an impact across the board and shocking statistics reveal this is costing the Australian economy billions.  

According to new research, offices are a prime breeding ground for all manner of bacteria – in fact up to 10 million different strands can be found on an office desk.

This makes it up to 400 times dirtier than a toilet seat.

Speaking on Sunrise, the report’s author Dr Libby Sander said offices are really ‘quite dirty’ places.

As well as desks harbouring a massive amount of germs, other areas of the work place also came under scrutiny.

Coffee cups were revealed as a place were many germs could be found hidden, with as many as 90 per cent were found lurking within their depths.

Hand-washing also came under the spotlight, with as many as 50 per cent of office workers fail to take this simple action.

The research found men tended to be worse than women at this.

Open plan offices were also found to be dirtier by 62 per cent more than those that were closed. 

Contributing to the spread of germs are workers who show up to work with a cold or flu or other infectious illness (stock image)

‘The more people there are in the workplace, the more likely we are to slack off,’ Dr Sander said.

‘We think somebody else is going to do it, and it’s not my responsibility.’

Contributing to the spread of germs are workers who show up to work with a cold or flu or other infectious illness.  

However, infections aren’t spread through coughing and sneezing, more these are spread through contact.

‘We’re getting more and more infectious diseases and when we have poor hand hygiene,’ Dr Sander said on the program.

Eating at a desk was also something Dr Sander said she considered a problem as this can cause bacteria to breed, and is also bad for wellness.