If you're looking for a real fright, it might be as near as your office kitchen.

With the stench of two-month-old meatloaf or the slimy stack of encrusted dishes from last year's Christmas party, it's a ghoulish scene — and one repeated in a scary number of offices.

"The kitchen sink at one place I worked got so bad that the rental management place came out and put a piece of plywood over the sink and bolted it down," recalls April Callis, a Lansing, Mich.-based consultant who advises companies on creating professional environments. "The sink was always overflowing with moldy coffee cups, soups and oatmeal. It was disgusting."

Some big companies have janitorial staffs whose responsibilities including cleaning and straightening office kitchens. Refrigerators are cleaned out twice a month and someone wipes down the microwave, counters and sink daily.

At smaller companies, the process is often less formal. Maybe the office secretary is in charge or perhaps the responsibility rotates among office staffers.

The problem occurs when it's no one's job — and your desk is near enough to catch a regular whiff, or you actually want to use the kitchen without becoming ill.

Still, broaching the issue can be tricky. Nobody wants to be accused of uncleanliness or have his or her hygiene questioned by a co-worker. Others won't care, and will ignore your effort. Or your colleagues will be happy to leave it up to you to clean up their messes, an unfair outcome if there ever was one.

Here's how to deal without being stuck with the mop:

MAKE 'EM LAUGH

Callis, who is the author of "Springboard to Success: Strategies To Keep Business Casual From Making Business ... Casual," suggests trying a casual approach to resolve the problem.

"One of the things that you can do is send a very humorous, light-touch e-mail to everyone saying something like, 'The science projects are taking over the refrigerator and sink and we're going to have a Clean up the Fridge day on Friday,'" she says.

GET SOME HELP

If you're not comfortable speaking out, perhaps there is a more senior colleague who can spearhead an effort — or at least bring the issue to the attention of more senior staff.

"Many times you can tell who has more seniority and kind of the respect of the office. All you have to do is connect with that person and that person will have a lot more clout in taking care of the problem," she says.

Still, avoid bringing up the issue with management unless the mess is directly interfering with your ability to work — and even then, ask only once. You don't want to be perceived as a pest.

MAKE YOUR CASE

You can frame the problem as being detrimental to business — the kitchen is so messy you're afraid to offer prospective customers a cup of coffee, let alone let them see where it came from.

Above all, do not take it upon yourself to overhaul the office kitchen and refrigerator, or make others do so.

"I've seen people print up a sign saying, 'Your mom doesn't work here.' It's condescending and makes the person seem like they're not part of the team," Callis says.

You also don't want to be saddled with the full-time responsibility of cleaning up -- and you don't want to be tagged as the office janitor, rather than the rising star who is busy impressing clients or creating new business.

GET LOST

If no one seems to care, well, consider eating your lunch elsewhere. After all, a messy kitchen can say a lot about an employer and the health of a workplace.

"It's a symptom of other problems at a company," says Vicki Kunkel, chief executive of Leader Brand Strategists, an executive branding company in Chicago. "If you don't have enough attention to detail to have a sanitary kitchen, if you can't even control that, how are you going to control customer service or products?"

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If you have a cold, do you stay home or go to work? E-mail asap contributor Lisa Singhania at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it to discuss.

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