GULF SOUTH SAFETY ALERT 51!
What Preventing Worker Illness
Where All Job Sites
When All times
It is that time of year, more and more workers are becoming ill with the common cold and flu. Illness in the workplace is an important concern. Illness negatively affects the employee’s mood, thinking, reactivity, strength, and body. Not only will this affect the employee directly but it may also require family members to lose work time to provide care for the ill employee, incur additional medical costs, and/or cause the illness to spread to other family members.
Not only does employee illness affect the employee and their family but it can have a significant impact in the workplace. While working, there are many opportunities for people to interact, many times within close proximity of one another. This increases our chances of spreading illness. Employee illness can lead to loss of productivity, reduced quality of work, absenteeism, poor morale, and the spread of the illness throughout the workplace. This can lead to an unhealthy workforce and can negatively influence workplace operations.
In order to help prevent worker illness and limit the spread of germs:
- Get Vaccinated- get the flu vaccine to prevent seasonal flu.
- Avoid close contact- keep your distance from those who are sick.
- Stay home if sick- If possible, stay home if you are sick. If you are scheduled to go offshore notify your supervisor prior to going to an offshore facility. There are many people on offshore facilities and illness can spread easily. One person can cause the entire crew to become ill.
- Cover your mouth and nose- cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
- Wash your hands- Wash your hands frequently throughout the day. This is especially important after using the restroom, coughing or sneezing, handling any type of raw food, or before touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Practice other good health habits- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.
For questions or concerns, please contact Chris Detillier at 985-354-4043 or chris@gssimail.net.