Tips to Cope with Workplace Illness

Winter and Springtime are when people at most risk of cold & flu. It is, therefore, important for the businesses to have a strategy in place to prevent the spread of infection at the workplace.

Facilities Managers & Office Managers can use the following tips to educate co-workers and protect themselves and others:

1. Maintaining a distance of three feet between themselves and co-workers to minimize the spread of infectious germs.
2. Not touching or using equipment that belongs to another coworker, including phones, keyboards, pens, and staplers.
3. Covering their mouths and noses with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and disposing of it properly.
4. Wiping down work areas with disinfectant wipes, especially high-touch surfaces, such as light switches, door handles, phone receivers, etc
5. Minimizing personal contact by using e-mail, Web conferences, interoffice phone calls, etc.
6. Developing a Sick Leave Policy
7. Increasing cleaning around the high traffic areas & during high traffic time to reduce cross-contamination
8. Signs should be posted in restrooms and throughout the building about the importance of hand hygiene, including thorough washing and drying.
9. Make tissues and hand sanitizing gel available to all employees.
10. Install hands-free systems in restrooms and breakrooms.
11. Ensure the in-house cleaning staff is using disinfectants and color-coded technology to kill viruses and prevent cross-contamination.
12. Provide sanitary wipes and disinfectant spray to all employees and encourage them to wipe down their work areas daily.
13. Most importantly—staying home when they are sick.

Importance of Having a Good Sick Leave Policy

Management may feel that absenteeism is the biggest problem with sick leave, but in fact, it seems presenteeism (working while sick) is even worse, Not only does the productivity of the sick employees drop, often increasing the chance of mistakes and leaving co-workers to pick up the slack, but it also puts healthy (productive) workers at risk of falling ill.

A sick leave policy should be explained to new employees, letting them know that if they have any flu-type symptoms, they should stay home and seek medical attention. An “organizational culture” of employees who come to work no matter what, makes those who should stay home due to illness feel obligated to come to work. Companies should recognize that people are going to miss work due to illness but should also reiterate that repeated absences without a doctor’s excuse will not be tolerated.

In addition, companies should understand that their employees may need to stay home to care for children who are home sick or home because their schools or day-cares have been closed in an attempt to prevent further transmission.

One thing is for certain: If the culture of the company is one based on fear that an absence will be held against them at a later time (for example, during their annual review), employees will come to work sick. Lastly, management needs to lead by example. If employees see that their bosses come to work sick, they are surely not going to miss work either.

It’s a fact that business doesn’t stop due to illness; so if a company wants to come out the other side of a pandemic relatively unscathed, management must create and implement a business continuity plan. Leaders need to understand that widespread outbreaks of an infectious disease or virus will not just affect their companies, but also their suppliers, and even their customers. To maintain normal business procedures, managers should:

• Recognize business processes that must continue to operate in the event of a pandemic event and create a backup plan that will ensure their continuance. Identify key employees and have them train backups in case they fall ill. Cross training should be done throughout the company to ensure flexibility in the ability to continue customer service during periods of short staffing.

• Develop relationships with several vendors to ensure business processes continue as seamlessly as possible. Find different suppliers for your products/raw materials, utilize multiple shipping companies, and if your company has multiple locations, outsource some of your work to the other locations where the infection is not as bad.

• Develop an emergency communication plan; one component of the plan should be the ability for your employees to telecommute should the company choose to close or run skeleton crews to try and interrupt the transmission cycle.

Prevention

Here are some ways that can help companies prevent or slow the rate of transmission:

• Signs should be posted in restrooms and throughout the building about the importance of hand hygiene, including thorough washing and drying.

• Make tissues and hand sanitizing gel available to all employees.

• Prop open doors common areas, board rooms, cafeterias, etc.

• Install hands-free systems in restrooms and breakrooms.

• Ensure the in-house cleaning staff is using disinfectants and color-coded technology to kill viruses and prevent cross-contamination or hire a third-party vendor that provides hygienic cleaning services.

• Provide sanitary wipes and disinfectant spray to all employees and encourage them to wipe down their work areas daily.

• Minimize personal contact as previously suggested, especially during germ-prone times such as flu season.

Green FM can provide various Spring Deep Cleaning Services for offices and workplaces which includes sanitizing of Keyboards, phones desks, and restroom deep cleaning services etc. Please contact us if interested by emailing at info@greenfacilities.co.uk or calling 08000445795.

Source: www.issa.com