Save $500 a day

Are coughs and colds sickening your company’s performance?

Maybe a free poster from Employers of America can help.

Titled “For Your Health: Prevent Colds, Flu and Other Contagious Diseases,” the poster lists five simple steps employees can take to reduce the risk of those illnesses from spreading in the workplace. Recommendations include detailed instructions for proper hand-washing to reduce the spread of disease-causing germs,and other behavioral practices that can reduce transmission of the cold and flu bugs.

“Employers can lose up to $500 per day in productivity and related expenses when an employee calls in sick,” says Jim Collison, president of Employers of America.

Collison recommends employers place the poster in restrooms and employee gathering places. And items commonly used by employees, such as keyboards, phones and doorknobs, should be regularly cleaned with a 70 percent alcohol solution.

The poster can be downloaded for free from the association’s Web site at www.employerhelp.org/topstories/stories/sickness.htm.

Ray Marano