PRECAUTIONS TO REDUCE THE FREQUENCY OF ILLNESS IN YOUR OFFICE

Reduce Illnesses at work

Employees call in sick for various reasons, from a hangover to not feeling like working. But employee illness is a matter of grave concern, especially during the pandemic, and businesses lose millions of dollars every year because of contagious diseases.

One sick person can unknowingly start a cluster of illnesses inside the office, making several people around them sick and devastating the project plan. Only healthy employees can give more productivity, contributing to their job wholeheartedly, without working for the sake of meeting deadlines. Taking certain precautions in the workplace will help in reducing frequent illnesses significantly.

Germ-free premises

Keeping the workplace clean and disinfected will prevent several contagious diseases in the office, from the common cold to Coronavirus. Ensure all the surfaces in the workplace that come in contact with the customers and outsiders frequently are wiped clean with disinfectants regularly. Offices should spray disinfectants on telephones, keyboards, gates, handles, desks, and tables daily.

Conduct regular cleanliness inspections in the office and medical camps for office staff to ensure they are healthy. You can also get Orange County corporate and event COVID testing for offices and events like an office party or an annual day function. Companies like Drip Hydration, Color, Event Scan, and Global 7 Diagnostics test your employees once a fortnight to ensure nobody has caught any infection. The certified nurses working for them can also administer various energy-boosting and illness recovery IVs, curbing mild illnesses at the bud.

Hygienic habits

Enforce strict rules to maintain hygienic habits in the office like not touching others unnecessarily, eating only in designated spaces, and using closed bins. Install sanitizer dispensers throughout the office and make sure employees and customers use them regularly. Hang posters and creative content that reminds people about the importance of personal hygiene maintenance within the office.

Refill hand sanitizer stations regularly and have soap, handwash, and disinfectants handy in the office premises. If an employee has a cold or seasonal allergies, ask them to use tissues and dispose of them in closed trash bins. Instruct them to wash their hands or use gloves and appropriate masks to help prevent spreading diseases to others.

Proper ventilation

Proper ventilation in the office is necessary to prevent many respiratory diseases. Make sure to space out employees equally throughout the building, at least 6 feet apart from each other. Ensure that air-conditioners, humidifiers, thermostats, and other heat or cold generation devices are cleaned regularly.

If your office has a garden or courtyard area, let employees work outdoors if the weather is pleasant. The change of scenery will make them feel refreshed, and breathing in the fresh air will help further in increasing their good mood. If an employee has a cold or running nose, arrange for them to work from home or in a separate area until they are feeling better.

Immediate testing and treatment

Immediate testing and treatment are necessary to keep COVID and other naturally contagious diseases under control. An onsite medical service can send their experienced professionals to the office to test the employee for COVID. The affected employee should be isolated or sent home until they get the result, which can happen in as little as 15 minutes depending on the type of test chosen.

Whether the person has COVID or another infectious disease, an onsite clinician can administer immunity-boosting shots to employees to help prevent the disease from spreading further. 

Awareness and communication  

All the employees in the office should undergo training regarding maintaining good self-hygiene, self-assessment of COVID symptoms, and other contagious ailments. They should follow the company rules and inform the health officer if they are in trouble and come forward to isolate themselves if necessary. Communicate the importance of acting responsibly to avoid spreading diseases to others.

Use posters, pamphlets, intranet, and social media messages to create awareness about the basic rules to reduce illnesses in the workplace. Reward your staff now and then through recognition to reinforce working together to prevent the spread of illness at the office.

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