Infectious diseases can be transferred from one infected person to another and are a significant cause of lost productivity for a business. According to the Wellness in Workplace Survey Report 2015, New Zealanders are most likely to be absent from work due to illness or injury unrelated to the workplace, with caring for a family member or other dependent the second most common cause of absence.
Promoting immunisation and good infection control measures within your workplace can prevent a wide range of serious infectious diseases. Workplaces may also choose to consider ways of promoting immunisation and good infection control to whanau of staff. If whanau remain healthy this may in turn reduce domestic sick leave taken by staff.
To find out why Infection Control and Immunisation is important in your workplace view click here. People can sometimes be misinformed about influenza, click here to get the right facts about influenza, including a myth buster section on frequently heard myths.
Incorporating Infection Control and Immuisation into your Action and Evaluation Plan
Your efforts to support staff to reduce the spread of infectious disease and create a safe and hygienic working environment must consider a multi-level approach to ensure it is effective and sustainable. A multi-level approach involves considering what is available at each of the following levels:
- Organisational (Policies and procedures)
- Environmental (Infrastructure and facilities)
- Individual (Opportunities, information and training)
See the following sections for examples of how to address Infection Control and Immunisation at each of these levels.