Though the sudden cool showers of the monsoon bring respite from the scorching summer heat, they also bring with them certain illnesses. So, while it is the season to celebrate and refresh, it’s also the time to take certain precautions.
Epidemics usually occur twice during a year, with the highest number of cases just after the monsoon from September to December, says a study. So, one needs to be cautious especially when it comes to employees who are commuting between home and office.
Here are five ways you can take care of your employees during the monsoon.
1. Diet check
One needs to pay attention to food this season as food and water-borne diseases like cholera, typhoid and hepatitis abound. Street food or outside food is a high risk during monsoon as it can lead to indigestion, disease, and infection. Every monsoon season, there is a rise in diseases like gastritis and hepatitis. Raw meat, poultry, and vegetables are commonly contaminated with large numbers of bacteria, including potential foodborne pathogens. It’s not just the food, if the utensils used for cooking it are not washed properly, it can lead to contamination of the food.
So, here’s what you can do as a company for your employees:
- Ensure employees eat healthily.
- At home, encourage a healthy diet of mineral and vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables that increase immunity.
- At the office cafeteria, keep healthy cooked snacks.
- Fresh-cut fruit and vegetables are best avoided during the monsoon season.
2. Get rid of the insects
The monsoon season is almost synonymous with widespread insect borne diseases – especially malaria, chikungunya, and dengue. Mosquitoes breed in dirty and stagnant water. Now, picture the streets of most cities in the country during the monsoon – water-logged and dirty, and therefore the most conducive environment for mosquitoes to breed.
So, here’s what you can do as a company for your employees:
- Ensure regular pest control services at the office
- The restrooms must be cleaned every day, ensuring there is no stagnant water
- Check for stagnant water outside the office building and get it cleaned up
- Make anti-repellent mosquito creams and electronic mosquito repellent devices available to employees at their workstations if the vector is not controllable with the other measures.
3. Dress code directions
The unpredictable and heavy showers in the monsoon season can make dressing for work a veritable nightmare. Cotton is among the better fabrics for the season as it is light, breathable, and dries off quickly. Loose attire and comfortable water-friendly footwear (flats) would be best to negotiate the numerous hidden potholes on the road and cracks in the pavement. And if any of your employees is not feeling too well, ask them to wear a mask – that’s a great way to check the spread of air-borne diseases like influenza.
So, here’s what you can do as a company for your employees:
- Change dress code as needed to allow rain-friendly clothing
- Encourage employees to carry raincoats, umbrellas
- Designate a space where wet attire and accessories can be placed
- Introduce a mask mandate for employees who are showing symptoms of cold and cough
4. Keep fit
Exercising regularly helps to keep the mind and body healthy. It also helps to bolster the immune system, which you need to keep in fighting fit condition to stay healthy through the monsoon season.
So, here’s what you can do as a company for your employees:
- Encourage employees to take time to stay healthy with exercise and adequate rest
- Create employee lounges where they can take a break; an office gym is a great way to go if you have the space and budget
- Consider hosting online desk yoga sessions
- Make your personal leave policy flexible to keep employees calm and de-stressed
5. Prevention is the key
Prevention is always better than cure. Preventive check-ups allow people to take timely precautions to prevent medical conditions from developing or becoming chronic. It also helps doctors detect disease at an early stage where treatment is easily possible without complications.
So, here’s what you can do as a company for your employees:
- Include health check-ups and labs in your health insurance terms. It has been known to reduce employee sick leaves as well as boost employee satisfaction and morale. For you, that translates to greater productivity at work.
- Encourage employees to get regular preventive health check-ups to diagnose diseases, if any, early, reduce risks and complications that may arise, and increase chances for effective treatment and cure.
(+1) The right Insurance and Wellness partner
The 5 points detailed above serve to lay out a broad framework for initiatives you could take to take care of your employees through the monsoon. However, putting these into action on the ground is often not that easy – that’s where a proactive and value-added insurance and employee wellness partner could help.
Here are some ways your partner could help:
- Conducting sessions or talks by external experts on how employees can take care of themselves through appropriate diet, clothing, and so on
- Providing employees with health checkups at leading diagnostic labs to identify risk factors, and to identify specific areas of focus for individual precautions
- Conducting health camps at your workplace to promote and enable better employee health and practices
Odin Insurance Broking Services Pvt Ltd is a first-generation broking house, offering insurance consultancy, and catering to the General Insurance and Life Insurance needs of our clients across industries and sectors in the corporate domain through customized solutions across product lines. We believe that health insurance is a great way to support your employees and help them tide over a season that is both thrilling and trying. Contact us to know more.