Office outbreak?

There is a new epidemic in the workplace: Presenteeism.

The opposite of absenteeism, presenteeism is causing outbreaks of workplace illness.

When an employee wakes up sick, it might run through their head to stay home. Due to a failing economy, more often than not, employees try to “rough it” and drearily mope through the day with a box of tissues under one arm and a bottle of aspirin in the other.

The whole time, they touch keyboards and mice and door handles, sneeze near the coffee maker, all the while spreading germs.

Soon the whole office is swarmed with sniffing, coughing, sneezing, miserable employees.

“I think the same rules should apply at work as do for children,” Dianne Swanson, Gage County extension educator, said.

This means that if you have a fever or something contagious, stay home. A fever is a sign that the illness is contagious.

If there is a sick co-worker in the office, Swanson said it’s important to avoid things they’ve handled, like keyboards, telephones, the copy machine or even pens and pencils.

“Sometimes we pick something up and we don’t even think about it.”

Because of the many ways an illness can be spread by sick co-workers, Swanson said it’s important to use antibacterial cleansers and to wash hands often.

“This will keep you from spreading serious illnesses, like the various flu bugs,” she said.

A sick person at work is more dangerous for those who aren’t sick, but Swanson said it doesn’t help the other sick employees either.

“It may take longer to get better, because they’re not giving their body a chance to recover,” Swanson said.

Swanson said she understands why presenteeism is such a problem. Sometimes those employees are desperately needed.

“That’s a double-edged sword,” she said.

Jennifer Sirek, director of nutritional services at the Beatrice Community Hospital and Health Center, said companies need to have a policy for banding together when workers are sick.

“At the hospital, we let employees know right from the get-go that they cannot come to work sick,” Sirek said.

Sirek said its easier to deal with illness if one person stays home and healthy employees do a little extra to pitch in.

“I understand that it’s sometimes hard in food service. There aren’t always a lot of people to replace you. But everyone needs to work together as a team to cover for a sick person,” she said.

Sick employees across the cubicle might be annoying, but sick employees handling food is dangerous.

“As food service workers, people are counting on you to handle the food properly. They’re trusting you,” she said.

Coming to work in food service with a fever or with lesions and boils can cause food borne illness or a food borne outbreak.

Food borne illness is an illness spread via food. A food borne outbreak is when two or more people eat the same food and become sick from it.

“Food borne outbreaks aren’t always reported,” Sirek said.

Sirek said it’s not hard to determine if you have a food borne illness.

“Food borne illness has a six to 10 hour incubation period after eating. It comes on quick. You’ll have a stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhea,” Sirek said.

“It runs its course and then it’s done.”

If managers notice sick employees, Sirek said it’s their duty, whether in an office or in food service, to send that employee home.

“If you’re not following proper hand-washing techniques or if you’re working with food that’s not cooked above 165 degrees, (illness) could be spread very easily,” she said.

Proper hand-washing, Swanson said, means more than just “a quick rinse off under water.”

Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds in the hottest water you can stand.

“This includes rubbing the top side and the bottom side of your hands,” she said.

Sirek said she can’t stress enough the importance of keeping sick employees away from food.

“We’re very strict about it at the hospital. We’d rather pull together than to have an employee come to work and possibly cause a food borne outbreak.”