As the cold winter months draw in, seasonal winter bugs and illnesses are nothing but a burden when it comes to employee health and keeping your workplace running smoothly. 

In 2018, an estimated 141.1 million working days were lost due to sickness or injury in the UK – the equivalent to 4.4 sickness days per worker.

Unfortunately, this year also sees the additional threat of Coronavirus, meaning it’s likely that these numbers have already risen, and are set to rise again as sickness becomes an even bigger threat during winter.

Planning and acting in advance is key to helping make your workplace safer, and can help reduce employee sickness absence to keep your workplace working efficiently. This guide will run through several ways of how to plan and act suitably for the more illness-prone months, keeping your employees safe and protecting them from illness as much as possible.

Working from home

Allowing employees to work from home helps reduce the amount of people in the workplace at one time, as well as allows anyone self-isolating to continue working when not allowed into work. 

By reducing the amount of employees in work, the amount of germs and bacteria everyone comes into contact with on a daily basis decreases, therefore making it less likely for individuals to become ill and need time off work completely. 

Similarly, as Coronavirus self isolation becomes more important once again, ensuring employees can work from home during the necessary self isolation time is vital, as it means work can still be completed and company time and money isn’t wasted.

Take a look at our comparative guide to the difference between germs in a communal office vs a home office, and discover tips to clean both effectively.

Installing antimicrobial furnishings

Installing antimicrobial products and antimicrobial furnishings within the workplaces helps reduce the amount of bacteria on surfaces, preventing cross-contamination of bugs and illnesses especially in busy and shared areas.

Antimicrobial wall cladding and antimicrobial flooring from BioClad provides super hygienic measures and has been proven to reduce microbes by 99.9% within 2 hours, as well as provide 24/7 protection against bacteria growth. Cladded walls and flooring systems are easy to clean, with the wall cladding watertight making it ideal for all workplaces including hospitals and offices.

Another handy product to install to prevent the spread of germs and bacteria is BioDoor door protection panels. Providing a complete hygienic door solution, these panels help to prevent cross contamination of bacteria and bugs in door areas that pose as one of the greatest touch points within the workplace.

Read more here about the effect BioClad products have on Coronavirus and how it negatively affects bacteria that contaminates surfaces through protein damage, cell membrane damage, oxidative damage and DNA interference.

Keeping the workplace clean

Good housekeeping in the workplace goes a long way when it comes to looking after employees and keeping sickness absence levels low. 

Keeping a cleaning schedule within the workplace helps cleaning jobs be kept on top of, as well as ensures everyone has their fair share of cleaning work to successfully keep the workplace clean and free from germs and bacteria.

Including everything from office tidiness to cleanliness within workplace kitchens and break rooms, the cleaner your workplace is, the less likely it is that employees are going to pick up illnesses and bugs from touching surfaces and working in unhygienic spaces.

Browse our full product range today for innovative solutions to keeping your workplace clean and hygienic, and keep an eye on our news and insights feed for more helpful guides and information.

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