Last year, with COVID restrictions and wide spread mask use, the flu didn’t have its usual toll on the work force. This year, as people are back to work and mask use is less prevalent, there are concerns about what it will take to keep employees safe and healthy throughout the flu season.
When does flu season start in Massachusetts?
Typically, the flu season begins in October and continues through May. Not entirely coincidentally, this is the time of year when harsh outdoor weather forces people to spend more time indoors, congregating together. The flu is, in many ways, similar to COVID in that it can be transmitted by people sneezing, coughing, and touching surfaces.
What can employers do to keep their teams safe from the flu?
There are some steps that employers can take, such as recommending the flu vaccine and making remote work accessible for employees who aren’t well enough to come into the office, that are beyond our scope of practice as a Quincy janitorial company. With that in mind, we’ll keep our recommendations focused on cleanliness and sanitization.
We know that diseases like COVID and the flu live on hard surfaces. People can contract many types of diseases from touching a hard surface after a person who is already sick touched it. That’s why the best janitorial services clean, sanitize and disinfect all hard surfaces. The surfaces that are most important to clean are those that regularly touched by many people – things like door knobs, light switches, and everything in the bathroom.
In busy, high traffic workplaces, it’s a good idea to have professional cleaning crews take care of the facility every night. As a Quincy janitorial company, we provide nightly cleaning services as well as weekly and semi-weekly services. If you’ve had an employee test positive for COVID or develop a significant case of the flu, deep cleaning services are available to help the other employees feel confident in the workplace.