Affecting the Health of YOUR office?

Executive Corner
By Julie Adamen

Workers in the United States miss an average of 1.5 days per year because of the flu this could cost businesses $20 billion in lost productivity this year, according Harvard University health economist David Cutler.

In today’s business environment, our focus on reducing levels of absenteeism has given birth to a new trend which is creating equal if not more damaging consequences to a businesses bottom line – “presenteeism,” defined as “the feeling that one must show up for work even if one is too sick, stressed or distracted to be productive…”  [1]

Take look at the information below:

“A study by the University of Arizona in 2002 found the typical worker's desk has hundreds of times more bacteria per square inch than an office toilet seat. Office toilet seats had 49 germs per square inch. But desktops had almost 21,000 germs per square inch. Phones were worse -- more than 25,000 germs per square inch.

“Desks, phones, computer keyboards and mice are key germ transfer points because people touch them so often. Coughing and sneezing can leave behind ‘a minefield of viruses’ that can live on a surface for up to three days.” According to this report, 80% of the infections we get are transmitted through the environment. In other words – desks, phones, etc. [2]

According for the Centers for Disease Control[3] 200,000 people per years are hospitalized for flu in the US and 36,000 people will die of the flu yearly. The recent concerns over the avian, or bird flu and  a potential pandemic thereof should make us all sit up and take notice. It is in our interest from a civic and social standpoint, as well as a business one, to do what we can as a first line of defense to keep our employees healthy – as well as our bottom line.

So, what can you do?

Create the right environment.  Let your staff know they won’t get fired for calling in sick when they really ARE sick.  

Make it policy! Make it consistent company policy that those who are ill go home and stay home until they are better. There is no gain in their spreading their illness to other staff members or clients.

Give them assistance. Assure your employees that if they are falling behind due to illness, they will get additional help. Of course, this means you, as the executive, must ensure those employees do receive assistance when they return or during their absence.

Provide disinfectant wipes to each cubicle or desk. Janitorial services usually don’t clean desks, keyboards, mice, etc. These are some of largest carriers of bacteria. Have all your employees wipe down their desktops, mice, keyboards and telephones daily with disinfectant wipes. Discourage your employees from eating at their desks; it only creates what one researcher termed “the bacteria cafeteria.”

Keep employees hands clean. Roslyn Stone, chairwoman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Workplace Flu Prevention Group, had another low-tech recommendation -- washing your hands. "Soap and hot water for 18 to 20 seconds as frequently as you can remember to do it is going to be your single most effective prevention tip this season," she said.  You may think you shouldn’t have to tell your employees to wash their hands – but to create less illness in your office this year - you should. To encourage even more frequent hand cleaning, have waterless hand cleaner in several locations in the office and encourage its use.

“Presenteeism.” No where does this happen more often than in the community management industry – where deadlines are never ending and if a manager isn’t there to get the work done, no one will get it done for them? I know that when I was managing, I would have to have a near-death illness before I wouldn’t come in to work because if I didn’t, I felt I’d never be able to catch up. Or I thought the boss would think less of me. Same as when I worked in executive positions. This practice goes on in thousands of management companies today – and it’s wrong and it’s costing our firms millions of dollars as sick workers spread their illness to others by sharing the same telephones and other office equipment.  

And if you think you need help in convincing your employees to take this as seriously as they, (and you) should, just post those statistics cited at the top of the article in the lunchroom. It should get their attention, and maybe keep them healthier this flu season.