How to Prevent Illness Spreading in the Workplace

As the cold nights draw in, so too do the new strains of bugs and viruses that reduce workers to another sick day under the duvet. While unfortunate for the victim, illness can also have an impact on your business as a whole, as it's estimated that sick leave can cost UK employers up to £29 billion a year. To prevent an illness from spreading like wildfire through your company's workforce, follow these tips on how to optimise your company's cleanliness.

Make sure hands are kept clean

Whether it's from shaking hands with a manager or simply through interactions with fellow staff members, our hands are destined to get covered with germs. It's the rule that has been instilled in us ever since we were children, but frequent hand washing is a guaranteed way to stop a cold or flu virus in its tracks.

Company bathrooms and kitchens should have polite reminders asking staff to wash their hands before they leave the facility, but it's up to the company to ensure that hand soap is readily available. Having the right cleaning products to hand is essential, and it might be advisable to stock up on more soap than you think is required, as falling short could have disastrous consequences in regards to illness. Mistakes happen, and the smaller details of business life can get neglected when the workload is high, but managers should encourage company cleaners to remain vigilant when it comes to restocking the soap dispenser.

For a quick fix of cleanliness, a great idea is to provide alcohol-based hand sanitiser at the entrance of doorways. This can act as a fail safe for those who have neglected to efficiently wash their hands, or if they have encountered germs and unclean surfaces outside of the work environment.

Sanitised workstations

Research has found that your computer keyboard could be up to 20,000 times dirtier than a toilet seat. Your business doesn't have to contribute to this worrying statistic, as long as everyone abides by some basic cleaning rules. Wherever possible, staff should keep to their own workstation and avoid occupying one another's space. In co-operative and more hectic environments such as in a classroom or a journalist's newsroom, make sure that extra care is taken to cleanse the workspace of a sick person; ensure anti-bacterial wipes are available to quickly wipe down a desk and carry on with the work day.

When you're under the weather, a runny nose and a collection of tissues piled up on the desk are a common sight to behold. To stop the illness from spreading, a professional work environment should ensure that small bins are readily available to dispose of any germ-harbouring tissues. As a thoughtful extra touch, a place of employment could provide boxes of soft tissues for each desk in preparation for flu season.

Polished kitchens

Preparing food in an incubus of flu seems like a disaster waiting to happen. The company cleaner's daily kitchen cleanse isn't enough to stop the spread of an illness. Sponges, as well as scouring pads, should be available for staff to clean up their mugs and plates after using them during their lunch hour. Sharing and teamwork are pivotal aspects of business life, but not when it comes to utensils. Where possible, staff should be encouraged to keep to their own mugs and cutlery and refrain from sharing with fellow employees - even if they have been washed.

None of these tips will eradicate winter bugs in their entirety, but they can prevent them from spreading throughout the workplace. Diligence and an arsenal of germ-busting cleaning products are all you need to stop the spread.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes