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Get Your Workplace Ready for Flu Season

Experts say that one simple action can protect employees’ health and reduce costs of sick leave this flu season—hand washing.

Yes, mothers everywhere were on the right track when they told us for years: wash your hands!

Here are some important facts about hand washing from the Oregon Department of Health Services:

  • Hand washing is the single most important thing you can do to keep from getting sick and to avoid spreading illness to others, including the flu.
  • Adequate hand washing requires soap and clean, running water. Warm water is preferable. Lather up and scrub for 20 seconds.
  • Why use soap? It mixes with skin oil and loosens grease and dirt that may hold germs. If soap is not available, use an alcohol-based gel as a substitute.
  • Plain soap is a better choice than antibacterial soaps.
  • Wash your hands often. The average person touches eyes, nose, and mouth at least 200 times a day.
  • The most important times to wash hands are before preparing or eating food, after going to the bathroom or diapering a baby, before and after caring for someone who is sick or bleeding, after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing, and after handling an animal, animal waste, or garbage.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), inadequate hand washing may cause up to 40 percent of diarrheal illness and 20,000 hospital-acquired deaths, and costs millions of dollars in sick leave each year.

In a survey sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology and the Soap and Detergent Association, 91 percent of adults say they always wash their hands after using public restrooms; however just 83 percent were observed doing so. The observational study showed that 90 percent of women washed hands vs. 75 percent of men after using public restrooms.

Flu Prevention Strategies

Since the flu is caused by viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs, it usually spreads from person to person when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

According to the CDC, there are several important steps you can take to stop the spread of flu germs:

  • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
  • If no tissues are immediately available, it is advisable to cough or sneeze into the crook of your arm (where your elbow is) rather than coughing into your hands.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs spread this way. If you’ve just touched something that a contagious person has touched, you could get the virus.
  • Try to avoid close contact with sick people or people who might be contagious. This might be impossible for many people who have to care for sick family members or whose jobs involve health care or contact with the public. But whenever possible, stay away from crowded places and stay at least 6 feet away from someone who is contagious. Also, always wash your hands after any contact with someone who is or might be contagious.

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Stay Home

It seems crazy to encourage employees to stay home on a workday. But all the health experts say that one of the most important things employees can do to prevent the spread of infection is to stay home if they have symptoms or if they are sick.

CDC recommends that people stay home from work for at least 24 hours after their fever is gone, except to get medical care or for other necessities. The fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.

At  home, employees should:

  • Avoid sharing food, utensils, clothes, towels, sheets, computers, and other personal items.
  • Regularly disinfect household surfaces such as door knobs, light switches, counters, bathroom fixtures, and so on.

Tomorrow, we’ll reveal some important facts about seasonal that can help you keep your workplace healthy this winter.

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