Inside this issue...

- 6 ways you’re making your employees sick

- You’re still the boss!

Dear reader,

Well, I’ve finally come down with the flu doing the rounds. Not too difficult when working with 40 people. In fact, it’s amazing how often your place of business is to blame for spreading viruses and bacteria.
The Star ran a very interesting piece last week Thursday entitled “Is your office making you sick?” The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health ran a study which gives the red light to six areas of your job, and office, that are literally making you and your employees sick...

1. The layout of your office

Your open plan office may be spreading the word easier, but it’s also helping transfer germs! You can help minimise this by encouraging your employees to wash their hands regularly and keep their work stations as tidy as possible.

2. Burning the midnight oil

We’ve all had periods where deadlines require us to work longer than normal. BUT, if you’re regularly piling work on employees and they’re working later and later, you need to address your employees’ duties.
You should also encourage them to eat properly, take regular breaks and exercise three times a week.

3. Badly designed office furniture

Having badly-designed furniture can cause bad posture. This puts too much pressure on the lower back muscles, which could lead to chronic back problems.

You should assess your employees’ work stations and be able to advise whether they have them set up correctly.

4. Electric smog

“Electrical smog” is the electrical field created in offices by large amounts of electricity.

If your employee thinks there’s something wrong with the air in your office, take steps to adjust the ventilation, buy an ioniser or make sure your equipment is properly earthed.

5. You could be the problem!

If you’re a difficult boss, you could be bad for your employee’s health. In fact, you could increase his risk of a heart attack!

Allow for open discussion: your employees should be free to discuss any issues they may have with you or your management style.

6. Lurking in your keyboard

Dr. Charles Gerba, an American microbiologist, has found that keyboards have 21 258 microbes per square centimetre compared with 7.6 per square centimetre for the average toilet seat!
Keyboards should be cleaned regularly to minimise the spread of germs.

You’re still the boss!

Now, I’m not suggesting you don’t enforce the rules of your business for fear of inducing heart attacks in your staff. They still need to follow the rules and regulations you’ve set out.

To do this, you should have an HR manual to regulate conduct in the workplace. You also need to consistently apply the rules. Follow these steps when developing an HR manual:

Step 1: Determine who will be involved in developing the manual
Step 2: Decide what the manual will include
Step 3: Develop each policy
Step 4: Review the policies
Step 5: Consult with stakeholders
Step 6: Train all staff on the contents of the manual
Step 7: Determine the format of the manual
Step 8: Review your employment practices
Step 9: Set time to review the document and make changes
Step 10: Ensure your managers understand the contents of the manual and are comfortable complying with the provisions of the manual.

I’m going to take some of my own advice and medicate before I infect the rest of office.

 
Stay safe,

Nadia Pisanti