As someone who has spent virtually their whole working life in offices, I am starting to remember that the winter months were always a 'growing season' for colds and flu. For so many years it was just a given that when a colleague sneezed or coughed, then the whole office went down with the same thing! Also, in the summer months when unfortunate workers were suffering from hay fever and asthma, this could be a facilitator for the spread of other respiratory diseases not associated with their particular suffering.

If Covid-19 has taught us anything about the spread of respiratory diseases, then we know that we can help to prevent this by taking sensible precautions and of course this applies to both our workplace and domestic lives. Why not apply simple measures that perhaps could help us to avoid the spread of other respiratory diseases and make our lives healthier? We know that transmission is principally carried out by the spread of droplets that come from coughing or sneezing and by the touch of hand on germs, so even with the relaxing of social distancing rules, it still makes good sense to keep up the continued use of preventative equipment.

Sneeze guards and counter screens could well be here to stay. Generally, they are unobtrusive and surprisingly low cost to install, plus they have been proved to be very effective against the spread of diseases associated with air borne droplets. Similarly, the use of hand sanitising and keeping surfaces clean is essential in the fight against disease control.

Business owners and employees alike can access great advice on how best to control the spread of infectious disease within the working environment and we would recommend that risk assessments and health and safety plans are regularly reviewed to include best practices for us all to follow.

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