Simple ways to stop COVID-19 from spreading in the workplace

The low-cost measures below will help prevent the spread of infections in your workplace to protect your customers, contractors and employees.

Employers should start doing these things now, even if COVID-19 has not arrived in the communities where they operate. They can already reduce working days lost due to illness and stop or slow the spread of COVID-19 if it arrives at one of your workplaces.

• Make sure your workplaces are clean and hygienic

Surfaces (e.g. desks and tables) and objects (e.g. telephones, keyboards) need to be wiped with disinfectant regularly. Because contamination on surfaces touched by employees and customers is one of the main ways that COVID-19 spreads

• Promote regular hand-washing by employees, contractors and customers

Put sanitizing hand rub dispensers in prominent places around the workplace. Make sure these dispensers are regularly refilled

Display posters promoting hand-washing – ask your local public health authority for these or look on www.WHO.int.

Combine this with other communication measures such as offering guidance from occupational health and safety officers, briefings at meetings and information on the intranet to promote hand-washing

Make sure that staff, contractors and customers have access to places where they can wash their hands with soap and water. Because washing kills the virus on your hands and prevents the spread of COVID-

19

• Promote good respiratory hygiene in the workplace

Display posters promoting respiratory hygiene. Combine this with other communication measures such as offering guidance from occupational health and safety officers, briefing at meetings and information on the intranet etc.

Ensure that face masks and / or paper tissues are available at your workplaces, for those who develop a runny nose or cough at work, along with closed bins for hygienically disposing of them. Because good respiratory hygiene prevents the spread of COVID-19

• Advise employees and contractors to consult national travel advice before going on business trips.
• Brief your employees, contractors and customers that if COVID-19 starts spreading in your community anyone with even a mild cough or low-grade fever (37.3 C or more) needs to stay at home. They should also stay home (or work from home) if they have had to take simple medications, such as paracetamol/acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin, which may mask symptoms of infection

Keep communicating and promoting the message that people need to stay at home even if they have just mild symptoms of COVID-19.

Display posters with this message in your workplaces. Combine this with other communication channels commonly used in your organization or business.

Your occupational health services, local public health authority or other partners may have developed campaign materials to promote this message

Make clear to employees that they will be able to count this time off as sick leave