Building a workplace that is truly hygienic and protects the health of your employees relies on a layered approach that combines workplace flu vaccines, a consistent cleaning schedule, and proactive employee care.  A hygienic workplace must go beyond corporate immunisation programmes so you have a holistic line of defence against germs. Rather, it’s about building a culture of cleanliness, with daily hygiene rituals and regular wellness activities, to protect your staff from illness all year round.

Why vaccines alone don’t make a workplace safe

Don’t get us wrong, vaccines are extremely effective in building immunity against specific viral strains on an individual level, but they are not a collective shield against all germs that persist in your workplace. Even if everyone in your team is up to date with their vaccinations, you’d be surprised by the level of germs that exist in spaces where people routinely congregate.

• What vaccines do: They prepare your immune system to fight off specific illnesses, such as influenza. They are incredibly effective in drastically decreasing infection rates and severity of symptoms if you do get infected.

• What hygiene does: Daily practices that physically improve sanitary levels, such as removing and killing bacteria and viruses that tend to thrive in communal surfaces and hands.

• Where they overlap: By combining both vaccines and hygiene protocols, it creates a robust double-layered defence, so you can stop transmission before the virus reaches a host.

There’s no point implementing immunisation programmes without having a cleaning schedule for your shared spaces. Seasonal bugs, common colds and stomach viruses will spread rapidly through your team regardless, affecting the productivity of your business and the wellbeing of your people.

Everyday hygiene habits that reduce sick days

Integrating a hygiene routine into your workplace doesn’t have to involve an entire upheaval. It’s the small, structural changes to your daily office environment that can make the difference and prevent the transmission of everyday illnesses that make your team vulnerable:

• Handwashing and sanitising stations: An important addition to high-traffic entry points, outside of bathrooms, or near communal spaces. Ensuring they are touch-free adds an extra layer of protection. 
• Surface sanitisation kits: With hot-desking culture on the rise, providing wipes for employees to disinfect their meeting rooms and office equipment before and after use means surfaces are kept clean for the next person to use.
• Kitchen and bathroom protocols: Certain areas like bathrooms and kitchens require a deep-cleaning schedule, as well as appliances that are commonly in use, such as  kettles, microwaves, and fridge handles.
• Clear stay-at-home policies: Not making employees feel guilty for taking sick leave or working remotely as soon as symptoms start to show prevents outbreaks and allows your business to remain operational.

Layering health checks on top of hygiene

As a complementary addition to everyday rituals, including regular workplace health checks is a nice touch for your hygiene programme. 

Not only do health checks catch early signs of illness, but it improves team morale by showing your employees that you care about their wellbeing. 

• Workplace health checks: On-site health checks delivered by a healthcare provider that monitor body stats, such as blood pressure, glucose levels, to ensure your team members are in tune with their bodies and are aware of individual things to look out for.
• Workplace skin checks: Aussies know better than anyone the importance of catching skin cancer early. Professional skin checks allow your employees to spot suspicious moles early – a vital preventative measure when it comes to skin cancer.
• Workplace ergonomic assessment: Sitting at a desk puts immense pressure on the body. That’s why tailored ergonomic assessments are a useful measure to help correct posture and prevent any strains, while offering recommendations on how to improve your desk set-ups.
• Workplace massage: Desk massages are an easy way to integrate wellness into the workday by boosting morale, reducing stress, and relieving any physical tension.

Common workplace hygiene mistakes to avoid

• Fostering a “presenteeism” culture: Normalising sick days means you avoid employees pushing through workdays which leads to viruses sweeping through entire teams. 

• Unusable sanitiser stations: Stations should be regularly monitored to ensure hygiene isn’t treated as an afterthought. 

• Skipping annual vaccination drives: Vaccinations must be done year by year to keep your team safe.

• Ignoring ergonomic strain: Hygiene goes beyond germs and extends to hygiene in your posture and set-up. Ensuring ergonomic standards are met means fewer people off sick due to chronic strains and body ailments.

Ready to Build a Hygiene Programme in Your Workplace?

Protect your workforce from seasonal illness and long-term health risks today by Contacting our expert team.