Simple Low-Cost / No-Cost Steps to Minimize Employee Infections in Business and at Work

During the annual winter influenza season (and with current concerns with the coronavirus), the following low / no-cost steps can have a real impact on minimizing employee exposure to infection right now. One of my clients and their team followed all of the below steps, and succeeded in keeping the whole team well and at work during flu season, which always coincides with their busiest season (including but not limited to wiping down desks, tables, doorknobs, bathroom surfaces after individual use).  Included in this list are some of their bathroom etiquette tips:

• Stay home if you’re sick; return to work after fever’s been gone 24 hours;
  • If your organization doesn’t offer sick time or paid time off (in this tight job market, it’s difficult to recruit / retain employees without this benefit), this might be the opportunity to review the cost-benefit of paid time off;
  • Supplemental short-term disability (in addition to NYS short-term disability) can also help keep employees financially whole if they need to stay home and get well;
  •  For the safety of everyone in your workplace, it’s time to shift the paradigm (including the above recommendations) that coming to work sick is some sort of heroic act.  It’s in fact the opposite: it can at minimum make everyone else sick, and at worst, endanger other employees;
• Wash hands frequently and thoroughly with soap for at least 20 seconds (in between fingers; also keep fingernails short and clean accordingly) as often as possible, like you see doctors do on medical reality shows;
  • Avoid shaking hands;
  • Wash your hands after every restroom use to prevent the spread of colds and flu;
• Cough and sneeze into tissues or your sleeve, not the open air and/or near co-workers / other people
  • Then wash your hands immediately / frequently;
  • Wash that piece of clothing that you’ve just sneezed into;
  • Stay away from other people if you start coughing / sneezing – better yet, go home;
• Double-check the toilet, the toilet seat and the stall floor to ensure they’re clean and dry before you leave the stall – bathroom cleaning wipes and disinfectant are also available in the restroom to address any concerns;
• Keep work areas (counters, desks, landline phones, door knobs, all bathroom surfaces – great to have hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes on hand throughout all work areas to encourage employees to clean up after themselves) constantly clean (like supermarkets have disinfectant wipes just inside their entrances – the aforementioned client had packages of disinfectant wipes in every bathroom stall and at every desk / table).
  • Wipe off the sink and counter so that they’re clean for the next user.

Aside from the above low-cost / no-cost measures, we all need to review our work and personal contingency plans, e.g. opportunities for remote work, remote video meetings (Google Duo, Zoom Video, etc.) to also minimize infection. For example: Amazon announced over the weekend that it will shift to video interviews for certain positions. From my perspective as a recruiter, a Zoom video interview is just as effective as an in-person interview, and it also helps keep exposure to sickness and infection at a minimum for everyone on each side of the (virtual) interview table.

What simple low-cost / no-cost steps are you and your organization taking to minimize employee infections in business and at work?