Benefits of good hygiene in the workplace

The Occupational Health and Safety Act places an explicit obligation on the employer to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace. Notwithstanding the required health and safety regulations in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic that employers currently have to comply with, it is undoubtedly in the employer’s interest to consistently apply good hygiene in the workplace.

Good hygiene in the workplace contributes to:

  • Continuity of human resources – when an employee takes sick leave, it undoubtedly impacts on the workload of other employees. The employer does not necessarily have spare capacity to address the situation and this puts pressure on the employer’s business activities.

  • Saving costs by taking less sick leave – the employee is entitled to paid sick leave when he/she is unable to work due to a medical condition. When absenteeism is reduced, the employer saves money.

  • Heightened productivity by counteracting presenteeism – the term “presenteeism” refers to when employees show up for work while they are ill and this leads to loss of productivity, making mistakes, etc.

Each workplace is unique. Although some businesses generally need to apply stricter hygiene measures in terms of the service or product they provide, good hygiene in any workplace is to the employer’s benefit.

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Be proactive and do the following to curb the spread of infectious diseases/viruses in the workplace:

  • Create awareness among employees of the benefits of good hygiene.
  • Cultivate good habits regarding good hygiene – build on the COVID-19 regulations with specific reference to regular handwashing.
  • Make it easier for employees to practice good hygiene in the workplace by installing handwashing stations and/or sanitiser dispensers.

Through our Bookshop the LWO also provides labour law related equipment to assist employers to proactively manage labour as a business risk. Contact John Wright for more information at john@lwo.co.za or have a look at the various products stocked here.

One of our newly added products is a wall mounted sanitising unit for dispensing liquid sanitiser. The top up sanitiser dispenser is easily mounted and works with any liquid hand sanitiser. A proven effective and simple way for promoting great hand hygiene in the workplace, and complying with COVID-19 regulations.

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