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Workplace Vaccinations: What You Need To Know
Workplace vaccinations are starting to become commonplace within businesses taking a proactive approach to the health and well being of their team. Whether it’s the flu vaccine, a hepatitis vaccine or even MMR, introducing workplace vaccinations into your business is an important step when providing proactive occupational health.Are workplace vaccinations a legal requirement? Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 197 4 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, employers have a responsibility to protect the health and well being of their team. Employees who come into contact with biological agents that may cause ill health need effective control measures. However, it also depends on the industry your business falls in to.
Below is a comprehensive list of the vaccinations we can offer here at ELAS Occupational Health:
Influenza The flu vaccine can reduce the risk of illness by 40-60% throughout the population during flu season (October-May). Symptoms are often debilitating dependent on age and the severity of the strain. Most employees would benefit in some way from the flu vaccine. However if you work in the healthcare, emergency services or with vulnerable people you should receive the vaccination. Not only will it help prevent you catching the flu, it will reduce the chances of you spreading the flu too.
Hepatitis A and B You can catch Hepatitis A from contaminated food, drink or water. You can also catch it from another person. The virus thrives in areas with poor sanitation. If you work with sewage, refuse or travel frequently for work you should receive the vaccination.
You can catch Hepatitis B via contaminated blood/ bodily fluids and it is a serious liver infection. It’s often associated with needles. If you are in the healthcare, emergency services, laboratory, prison or travelling industry you will need the vaccination.
Japanese encephaliti Japanese encephaliti is a disease spread by mosquito bites and can eventually result in a coma. It is recommended that if you travel to Asia for a duration of over a month you should receive the vaccination.
MMR
The MMR vaccine is usually distributed to young children. However there may be people who have not received the vaccine as a child and will need to be vaccinated. If you aren’t sure whether you received the vaccine there is no harm in you having another vaccination.
Revaxis The Revaxis vaccine helps boost immunity against diphtheria, tetanus and polio. The Revaxis vaccine last 10 years. If you’re travelling to any countries where tetanus, diphtheria and polio is indicated you should ensure that you have had a booster.
Typhoid Typhoid is another disease you can pick up whilst travelling to places such as Asia and South America. Vaccinations are recommended to prevent you from picking up the infection.
What other occupations have a high risk of catching a blood borne virus? Of course there are other occupations where the chance of catching a blood borne virus is high. For example, vehicle repair and recovery, military, education, hairdressers and beauticians. If you are unsure as to what vaccinations your team may need, our occupational health team are available to advise and discuss your requirements. You can call them on 08450 50 40 60.
How can workplace vaccinations benefit your business? There are many benefits to introducing workplace vaccinations into your business. The most notable benefits are:
Increased productivity due to employees being fit and healthy to work Decreased absenteeism rates due to employees not having to skip work due to ill health or to get their vaccination Reduced costs to your business as there is less down time for employees Increased morale throughout your team as they have an employer who genuinely cares about their health Can you force your employees to have a vaccination? You want your team to be fit and healthy in order to reach maximum productivity within your business. Vaccinations are one way of helping achieve this. However, it isn’t as simple as enforcing vaccinations upon your whole team. Company contracts may detail that vaccinations are mandatory. However, employees still need to give consent for the vaccination to take place. If the employee doesn’t consent then you cannot force the vaccination upon them. If this is the case, you will need to sit down with the employee to discuss what reasonable adjustments can be made to the employee’s job role. This is because, as mentioned earlier, you have the responsibility to protect the health and well being of your team.
Why choose ELAS Occupational Health for your workplace vaccinations? With one of the largest fleets of mobile medical units in the UK, we take the hassle out of occupational health. We reduce employee down time whilst maintaining employee productivity thanks to our mobile medical units. Our occupational health technicians or nurses will visit your site to hold workplace vaccination clinics to the highest of standards. What’s more, we’re able to work around your shift patterns. Whether that’s night shifts, early mornings or weekends; we can accommodate it all!
For more information on introducing workplace vaccinations into your business you can talk to a member of our team who will be more than happy to advise. You can get in touch with us on 08450 50 40 60 or fill in the contact form to the right and a member of our team will give you a call back!
