As we get into influenza season, many companies see attendance fall alongside productivity as sick employees are increasingly absent. Just think abut how much of your workforce was sick last year due to influenza and how easily it can spread. Time off for illness can cost businesses a lot of money and can be stressful for employees who are taking their illnesses back home to their families. There isn’t unfortunately any guaranteed way to avoid having employees get sick and taking time off, but there are things you can do to minimise the impact of staff illness and to manage one of the biggest culprits of staff illness – influenza. Every year influenza is responsible for millions of lost profit for Australian companies and one of the easiest and most effective ways to manage it is with affordable corporate flu vaccinations.
What is influenza?
Influenza is a common and highly contagious virus that spreads easily and quickly between people though the transfer of respiratory droplets which are released into the air and onto surfaces via talking, coughing, sneezing and laughing. If a surface comes into contact with the virus and someone touches it and then touches their own eyes, nose or mouth area than they can become infected with the virus. Most people will be infected with the virus for a number of days without even knowing it and then symptoms will begin, sometimes as long as one week after first becoming infected. Influenza season typically begins when the temperature drops in the winter months, but people can catch the virus at any time of the year.
Influenza is much more serious than the common cold and highly contagious, more than 200,000 Australians caught it last year and every year close to 3,000 Australians will die from it. Influenza can have serious consequences so workplaces should take their responsibility to take steps to mitigate it seriously. Corporate flu vaccinations are one of the easiest ways to do this.
How do they work?
Corporate flu vaccinations are a highly effective measure for preventing the spread of influenza. Immunisations help to prepare the immune system to battle the virus should someone come into contact with it, but it can take several weeks to build up immunity after being injected, so early corporate fly vaccinations are a must to help prepare your workforce for the influenza season.
Whilst corporate flu vaccinations are a highly effective approach for managing influenza, some people will still contract the virus after being immunised, however it’s important to note that the severity of the illness is often much less after being immunised.
Corporate flu vaccinations are best undertaken in conjunction with other preventative measures and workplace initiative to help reduce the spread of the virus. Things like encouraging employees to cover their mouth, keep surfaces clean and avoid sharing equipment can help to dramatically reduce the risk of the virus spreading.
Why offer corporate flu vaccinations?
There are many great reasons for an employer to offer a program; it helps to promote health and safety in the office, shows your employees you care about their wellbeing which can raise morale and also helps to reduce the number of employees who are absent or ill. Ill employees will often experience a loss in productivity so even if people are showing up you’ll likely find that productivity dips in the winter month. Keep things on track and keep your working environment healthy by immunising staff. Doing it in the workplace is one of the easiest ways to do it and your workforce will appreciate it.