Avoiding the Flu

I just sent this to Wendy, but then I decided it was too good not to share with everyone else. These are some excerpts from a Health & Safety document that was sent out at work today, from the section on preventing the flu.

If while at work you feel unwell:

-Stay at your current location. If at your workstation, stay there.

- Immediately contact either the Influenza Floor Manager or the Influenza Coordinator by phone and provide details on your location and symptoms.

- Advise personnel located nearby of the situation and for them to maintain a social distance of at least 3 metres.

-Wear a face mask to prevent the spread of air borne droplets during sneezing.

A responder wearing full protective equipment (disposable overalls, safety glasses, disposable face mask and disposable gloves), will be sent to your location.

I almost feel like faking flu symptoms just to get my "Influenza Floor Manager" to show up at my desk wearing full protective equipment. And what, precisely, is he planning to do once he gets there?

And here are some suggestions for avoiding catching the flu. I could understand some of these if there was an actual pandemic and for some reason the entire country was depending on me to stay at work to keep the power on. But this was sent out as just a general guideline!

To minimise the risk and spread of the influenza, adopt the following practices:

(a) Keep a minimum separation distance of 1 metre from all personnel at all times.

(b) When using elevators, restrict the number of personnel to two per lift.

(c) Avoid shaking hands or other physical contact.

(d) Keep to your own workstation.

(e) Do not pass materials (papers, office equipment, etc.), between each other unless absolutely essential, or until they have been thoroughly wiped down with antiviral wipes.

(f) Avoid meeting people face to face – use the telephone, video conferencing and email to conduct business as much as possible – even when participants are in the same building.

(g) Avoid any unnecessary travel and cancel or postpone non-essential meetings / gatherings / workshops / training sessions.

(h) If possible, arrange for employees to work from home or work flexible hours to avoid crowding at the workplace.

(i) Avoid public transport: walk, cycle, drive a car or go early or late to avoid rush hour crowding on public transport.

(j) No food or drink is to be shared. Bring lunch and eat at desk or away from others (avoid the cafeteria and crowded restaurants). Introduce staggered lunchtimes so numbers of people in the lunch room are reduced.

(k) Use your own dedicated drinking vessels. Wash using boiling water. The kitchen may be used to prepare hot drinks, but a minimum separation distance of 1 metre must be maintained by staff at all times. Personnel should wash their hands with alcohol based hand sanitizer before and after using items in the kitchen. Any surfaces touched must be immediately wiped down with anti-viral wipes. Cups, cutlery and crockery must be placed in the dishwasher after use and washed using a hot cycle with dishwashing powder.

(l) All shared materials kept in the communal areas (e.g. magazines, newspapers etc.) are to be placed in a plastic bag for disposal.

(m) When using communal doors, lift buttons, handles, use a disposable paper towel to grip the handles or push the buttons. Immediately dispose of the tissues in the plastic bag lined rubbish bins.

(n) Consideration should be given to the wedging open of doors that do not require to be closed for security reasons.

(o) Do not congregate in tearooms or other areas where people socialise. Do what needs to be done and then leave the area.

(p) If a face-to-face meeting with people is unavoidable, minimise the meeting time, choose a large meeting room and sit at least 1 metre away from each other if possible.

(q) Set up systems where clients/visitors can request information via phone/email/fax and have order/information ready for fast pick-up or delivery.

(r) Consider the need to erect a Perspex screen at reception to provide a barrier between the receptionist and visitor. Remove any shared writing implements at the reception area.

(s) Encourage staff to avoid recreational or other leisure classes/meetings, etc. where they might come in contact with infectious people.

I am TOTALLY going to buy myself some antiviral wipes (I wonder where I can get those...) and proceed to wipe down every piece of paper anyone hands me. And I'm going to start Skyping my manager (who sits about 10 feet--I mean 3 metres--away from me) in order to avoid face-to-face meetings.