Companies today are making strides at prioritizing health in the workplace — everything from conquering sniffles and sneezes to reducing aches and pains. By emphasizing workplace wellness, companies can reduce absenteeism, boost productivity and increase employee retention.

Clean Up Your Act

• Use floor mats: In addition to presenting an unkempt image, dirty and slippery floors can also pose a health and safety hazard to building occupants. Providing floor mats in entryways is an important first step in combating these problems.
• Seek sustainable cleaning solutions. To better protect building assets and occupants, it’s important to select sustainable and safer cleaning solutions with low to zero VOCs, and low to no odor.
• Stop mold before it starts. Routinely clean air vent covers, filters and floor drains, and avoid over-wetting surfaces to prevent mold and mildew growth. Remove any mildew deposits that do occur immediately and thoroughly.

An Apple A Day..
A healthy diet is an important first step toward a strong immune system and against dragging energy levels. Here’s some food for thought to add to your checklist:

• Restock the break room: Help employees stay alert and healthy with smart snack options that curb the munchies. Offer options such as trail mix, granola bars and bottled water are popular — plus, they’re easy to stock.
• Scrutinize the vending machines. If possible, help employees avoid temptation lurking in the vending machines by stocking the machines with healthy options – low in saturated fat and sodium

Fight the Flu
The flu and other colds, especially when working in close quarters, can have a domino effect in the workplace — taking down workers and seriously hindering productivity.
Put the following items on your checklist to inhibit germs and keep staff healthy:

• Wipe-down common-touch surfaces: Think of how many people have touched those door handles, stair railings, elevator buttons, copiers, and conference room phones, water coolers, vending machines and ATMs. By providing sanitizing wipes and encouraging employees to wipe down their workstations, you can foster a cleaner, healthier office environment.
• Provide employee education: Consider formal education campaigns, including newsletters and informative posters, that encourage employees to “cover your cough” and “sneeze in your sleeve” (not hands) when a tissue is unavailable. Again, highlight the importance of hand-washing.

Take Advantage of Technology
Sixty-five percent of employees say they go into the office when sick, preventing them from performing at full potential, exposing their colleagues to a host of germs and even threatening the office with a bout of infections.

• Make it easy to work from home: Providing the proper technology tools and infrastructure will help maximize employee productivity and out-of-office success. Make sure employees are well-versed in security protocol as well, especially if they’re accessing sensitive data and transferring important files in and out of the office.

It’s a Team Effort
Taking action to provide and promote a healthy workplace can help organizations demonstrate their commitment to employee well-being, while decreasing absenteeism, increasing productivity, inspiring healthy living and defraying costs. Now that’s a healthy return

For more Health and Wellness tips for the cold & flu season visit staplesadvantage.ca/fluseason