We are well into the third year of the pandemic and it seems reasonable to expect we have things under control. After all, as a nation we are highly vaccinated, there are anti-viral treatments available etc. etc. But clearly, COVID has other plans for our lives and businesses. So how do we handle this latest pandemic wave?
Here are my 5 tips
Tip 1: Encourage your staff and family to have COVID boosters as they become eligible
While vaccination may not stop you catching COVID, the overwhelming evidence is, it will significantly reduce your chances of severe infection and therefore, your chances of hospitalisation. While you cannot mandate staff to be vaccinated, you can make it easier for them to get their booster by:
- Allowing them to take time off work to get their shot or take their children to be vaccinated
- Offering an additional day or two of paid sick leave if they require it to get over any vaccine side affects
Tip 2: Be a quaranTEAM at home and in the office
Throughout the pandemic, our newsletters and blogs have talked about the importance of being a quaranTEAM at work. That is, working together to ensure everyone follows the COVID safety protocols of safe distancing, thorough hand washing, sanitising and wearing masks.
As some new COVID variants are more contagious than ever, many healthcare professionals are recommending people wear N95 facemasks because they provide greater protection. Advising your staff of the new mask recommendations and encouraging them to wear masks when social distancing isn’t possible, will help to prevent infection.
Tip 3: Try to avoid reinfection
Having a dose of COVID doesn’t make you immune to reinfection. In fact, this virus is still puzzling immunologists worldwide because it isn’t behaving as they expected. Apparently, we should be starting to see the signs of herd immunity by now. But instead, COVID keeps mutating with some strains becoming more infectious.
In addition, according to Dr Norman Swan, there is growing evidence that suggests multiple COVID reinfections increase the chances of long COVID side effects in some people. These include heart, lung, kidneys, liver and brain damage.
Sharing this newsletter, and other information, with staff and family so they are educated on the effects of COVID is a good way to help them prevent reinfection.
Tip 4: Look for ways to mitigate risk in your business
There are many challenges in business at the moment and one of the most universal is managing the operational impact of staff taking sick leave due to catching COVID or the flu. There are ways to mitigate this risk in your business such as:
- If possible, split departments into 2 or 3 groups and allocating particular onsite workdays for each group. The others may be able to work from home. This will prevent an entire department coming down with COVID at the same time.
- Stagger shifts so some staff start and finish work early while others start and finish work later in the day. This type of rostering limits the daily overlap time when all staff are in the workplace together. Consequently, it mitigates the risk of a COVID outbreak in your business.
We can help you evaluate your risk mitigation options, so please get in touch.
Tip 5: There’s never been a better time to focus on your health and lifestyle choices
Poor lifestyle factors have been linked to the severity of COVID infections. These include diet, exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking, substance use and the amount of sleep we obtain each night. Poor lifestyle habits also increase your chances of suffering from long COVID. Prevention is always better than cure so now is a great time to chat to your staff about organise walking meetings, staff sporting activities and other ways to support each other on your health journey.
Help is a phone call away
Managing your people and complying with your WHS obligations has never been easy but COVID is making these tasks much harder. When you partner with the team at End2end Business Solutions, you have access to your own, high quality and experienced HR Manager. Our outsourced services are flexible, cost effective and tailored to the needs of your business.
You don’t need to handle staff management problems on your own. Call the team at End2end on 02 8977 4002.