With ordinary flu, continued COVID infections and not to mention the new Omnicron variant, it’s more important than ever to ensure that staff and customers are well protected from viral infections. Here are some helpful tips and products to ensure you have the best protection in place to suit your needs.
How does flu spread?
The measures you introduce to protect against COVID are also helpful in protecting against the flu for the following reasons.
Traditionally, influenza viruses, just like COVID have been thought to spread from person to person primarily through large-particle respiratory droplet transmission (e.g., when an infected person coughs or sneezes nearby).
Social distancing measures are helpful because droplets generally travel only short distances (approximately 6 feet or less) through the air.
Cleaning common touch points and regular hand cleaning is also useful because indirect contact transmission via hand transfer of influenza virus from virus-contaminated surfaces or objects to the eyes, nose or mouth can also cause infection. All bodily fluids of an infected person, including the droplets from coughs and sneezes, sweat and tears can be a source of the virus.
Hands
Providing hand sanitizer or hand washing facilities at key points around your business can reduce the spread of COVID and the flu. Increasingly commonly, sanitizer stations are empty, so having bulk supplies at hand is helpful in ensuring that staff are able to refill them regularly. If a station is empty for long periods of time, people may stop using it.
Cleaning touch points
It’s a good time now the weather is colder to reassess what touch points are commonly used, including door handles, telephones and kettles, for example and ensure that cleaning supplies are close to hand so these surfaces can be cleaned regularly.
Fabio Blue Alcohol Santising wipes 200 wipe tub £7.00
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We also offer disinfectant spray which is effective against coronavirus and influenza.
Face
Face masks and coverings are useful and now that they are once again required in shops and on public transport, it is important to ensure they are provided.
3 ply surgical masks offer good cover. However there are also many washable masks now available. Visors can be helpful for customer facing staff, particularly if communication is important in the role of the worker or if they are unable to wear a mask for any reason.
COVID or flu?
Because the symptoms of influenza and COVID variants can be so similar and because there are nasty colds and flu circulating currently, it is also extremely helpful to test quickly to detect if a worker or someone who has spent time in the workplace has COVID. We can supply bulk kits of Rapid Antigen lateral flow tests to help manage this situation.
Many staff and customers are also reassured by social distancing measures being reintroduced in the workplace and helpful signage can encourage this and reduce infections of flu and COVID alike.
You can see a range of options to suit your workplace, including health information posters and floor signage from page 144 of our safety signage brochure:
As always our team are happy to help you find the best products to suit your needs.
Call us on 01726 74264 or email sales@cisafety.com.