You can’t go to the gym, you look awful, and people avoid you at all costs – no, the zombie apocalypse hasn’t hit just yet – you’ve got the flu.  Illness in the workplace leads to missed deadlines, poor work, and an overall low morale, and let’s not forget about the amount of work you’ll need to catch up with once you feel well enough to get back to normal.  Luckily, there are a few things you can do to keep your workplace illness free.  Keep reading for a few of these.

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Clean Your Personal Space

It’s a known fact that employee desks tend to be the most unhygienic places in a workplace.  Think about it: Every time you use the phone, you’re creating a breeding ground for germs.  And every time you use your keyboard or mouse, you’re passing germs to your work items.  In order to keep your workplace safe and hygienic, use a sanitation spray to keep on top of the germs.  And, if you run a company, ask your cleaning staff to pay a particular focus to desktop areas.

Encourage Your Employees to Be Germ Free

Okay, so it’s going to be hard to monitor your employees for germs, and it will be almost impossible to make the workplace germ free, however you can encourage your employees to follow basic cleanliness.  Door handles, lift buttons, and faucets are all areas where germs seem to congregate, so place sanitising boxed near to these and other areas where you want to encourage cleanliness, such as conference rooms and reception desks.

Encourage Vaccinations

Flu season tends to hit every company during the winter months, and during particularly bad years, companies can see staggering numbers of staff off sick.  Instead of leaving your employees to sort flu jabs out on their own, encourage them to get inoculated by paying for the hour they will need to take off work.  Flu vaccines cause antibodies to build up in the body, which help to provide protection from infection.  Whilst you may still see some staff getting sick, the duration of time they take off work is likely to be a lot shorter.  So consider it an investment.

Don’t Promote a ‘Tough It Out’ Atmosphere

Calling in sick is often viewed as a weakness, and even if you don’t intend to be intimidating, many workers dread coming back into work feeling that they will be admonished or disciplined.  However, it’s important to encourage your sick employees to stay at home.  Yes, you will have to arrange for someone to cover the sick employee’s duties, but at the same time, you’re not putting your other staff members at risk of sickness.  Plus, without rest a sick employee could end up making mistakes which take a long time to put right.  So, always encourage your sick employees to take time off, and don’t discipline them for doing so.

By following the tips above, you should be able to maximise the amount of time that your staff are working, and minimise sickness in the workplace as well.