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Tips For Effective Prevention Of Infectious Diseases At Work
Bacterias are a part of our daily life and are all around us. Whereas some germs can be helpful, others can cause an infection that can spread around the worksite. To make sure that the employees stay healthy, it is, therefore, very important to pay particular attention to the way of prevention of infectious diseases at work.
The pathogens are easily transmittable in a number of different ways:
- contact transmission,
- ventilation,
- hazardous materials,
- food-borne and airborne illnesses,
- workplace hygiene.
Taking into consideration the recent outbreak, the disease’s transmission prevention has become a top priority for entrepreneurs and resulted in publishing a NYS Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act), the aim of which is to guard the workers against the spread of any harmful bacterias at the worksite.
How to Prevent the Spread of Infectious Illnesses at Work
While many can think that infectious disease and construction work are far away from each other, the statistics say that the risks are at absolutely every workplace, especially in big cities. There are multiple ways to minimize or totally prevent bacteria transmission:
- Administrative controls - e.g., limiting the number of employees at the workplace by creating shifts.
- Engineering controls - includes the regulation of humidity and temperature at work, air purification.
- Infectious disease prevention training - educates the employees about the risks and gives the guidelines on how to avoid them.
- Vaccinations - the most effective way of spread prevention.
- Protective equipment - like masks, gloves, or any other protective clothing.
- Workplace hygiene - availability of clean water, hand sanitizers, soap, and water-equipped toilets.
- Embrace touchless technology whenever it’s possible.
- Workplace inspections - check the workplace safety yourself or hire a consultancy that will do the audit for you.
- Encourage employees to take sick leaves when there are any signs of an illness.
Following these simple techniques maximizes the effectiveness of infectious disease prevention in the workplace. As per regulations, on top of these measures, the employers can decide to adopt the relevant published policy plan which was provided by NYS DOL, or they can create their own alternative strategy that covers the same standard’s points or exceeds them.
