The COVID pandemic has shown us how disease can put a whole system at a standstill, but also that we have the power to limit their spread. A lot of employers did not take infectious diseases very seriously before COVID but were probably suffering the consequences of their negligence without even knowing it.
Letting diseases spread in an organisation can lead to all sorts of issues and affect your profitability in more ways than one. This is why disease control should be a priority not only for the sake of your business but for your employees as well. Let’s take a look at why limiting the spread of diseases in your workplace is important.
Fewer Sick Days
One of the greatest benefits of curbing the spread of diseases in an organisation is that your employees will be healthier in general, and you won’t have to deal with as much absenteeism. This means that you won’t have to spend as much on sick days, and you will prevent having to scramble to find replacements all the time.
Higher Morale
Having people constantly call in sick can also start to erode people’s morale. Healthy employees will have to pick up the slack for those who are missing, and this can get tiring after a while. Things become worse if you have multiple people who can’t come in. This could not only push other employees to their limit, but they could decide to leave too, which will leave you with a severely gutted workforce.
Employees also need to know that you care about their well-being. If they notice that there is a string of people who are sick and that you have done nothing about it, then they could start thinking that you’re being negligent. Make sure that you react to issues quickly and that you take visible steps to stop them.
Avoid Labour Disputes and Legal Issues
Not providing your employees with proper protection against diseases could also spark labour conflicts. Not only that, but if one or multiple employees catch a disease and it can be shown that you were negligent, then they could have grounds to sue. These are all things you could avoid by protecting your employees properly.
Avoid Bad Press
Having your workplace shut down because you had a major outbreak is not good for business and people might assume that it was because of negligence even if it wasn’t the case. This is why you should provide all of your employees with all the supplies they need to protect themselves and others from diseases. And you shouldn’t wait for the government to enforce this either.
You should start searching for PPE suppliers and look for things like face masks, protectors, gloves, and hand sanitiser dispensers. Also, look at how you could distance your employees and put additional barriers between them.
You should always put the health and safety of your employees first and protect them from the spread of disease as efficiently as you can. This will keep your employees happy and productive and will keep you out of all sorts of trouble.
