Keeping Your Employees Healthy This Flu Season

With flu season just around the corner, now is a good time to brush up on tips to help you, your employees and family stay healthy and reduce your risk of getting the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu.

Dr. Stephen Munday, the chief of Preventive and Environmental Medicine, Sharp Rees-Stealy Occupational Health, recommends taking these precautions to avoid both the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu:

  • Avoid people who are coughing.
  • Avoid people who are sick. If you are sick, stay home until you are feeling better.
  • Cough or sneeze into a tissue and then throw the tissue away. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands.
  • Frequently wash your hands with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze.
  • Get vaccinated against the seasonal flu for individual protection and to limit the spread of flu from person to person.
  • To prevent the spread of germs, do not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. Touching your face is an easy way for germs to spread.
  • When you’re not by a sink, use alcohol-based hand sanitizers. 

Dr. Munday states that if you have become ill with influenza, the recommended period of exclusion from the workplace is until 24 hours after the fever and cough have resolved. 

“Recommendations may vary depending on other factors such as the type of business you are in, such as health care,” he said. 

Dr. Munday provides consultation services for you and your employees.

For More Information
For additional details regarding the flu, please visit Flu Care.

For employee-related services, call Sharp Rees-Stealy Occupational Health at 858-499-4957.

To learn more about Sharp's occupational health services, please call 858-499-4957. To find a Sharp-affiliated doctor, search for a San Diego occupational medicine physician or call 1-800-82-SHARP (1-800-827-4277), Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm.