As the days get shorter and colder, your chances of catching a cold or the flu can increase. These chances increase even further when you are in a shared space with other people, such as the workplace. So how can you go about promoting healthy practices with your fellow employees and keeping nasty bugs and viruses at bay? Reliable Contracting has a few tips for best practices in the workplace during cold and flu season that you should be following- read on to find out more!
Tip #1: Determining if you have a cold or allergies
While colds can spread quickly from person to person, you cannot catch allergies. Because allergies are unique to an individual, extra health precautions don’t necessarily need to be taken to prevent them from affecting others in the workplace. Allergies are sometimes difficult to distinguish from colds, but they do have some defining characteristics that set them apart: they last for days to months at a time, they can happen regardless of season, and they will never cause aches or fever. If all you are suffering from is allergies, than you can assure your coworkers they are safe from your sniffles!
Tip #2: Promoting hand washing and sanitizing
Think of how often you use your hands throughout the day: You shake hands with clients and customers, touch papers and pencils, you do just about everything with your hands! Because germs for both colds and the flu can easily be transferred through touch, it is important to promote hand washing amongst your fellow employees. Can’t be running back and forth to the sink all day? A bottle of hand sanitizer can do the trick as well and help your entire workplace stay healthy.
Tip #3: Encouraging flu shots
While a cold can put a coworker out of commission for a few days, the flu can knock them out for weeks at a time, causing a major drop to productivity and putting others at risk of contracting the flu as well. Flu shots can be found at many local pharmacies and drug stores this time of year; encourage employees to get their flu shots and, if possible, offer compensation for flu shots as a part of employee health care packages. It’s a worthwhile investment to make in your employees’ health and your company’s overall success!
Reliable Contracting Company serves the following and surrounding counties: Annapolis, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Howard, Prince George, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Washington D.C.
Source:
http://www.bbb.org/council/migration/business-tips/2012/12/preventing-cold-and-flu-season-in-the-work-place/