Just-in-case prep for swine flu at work

Claudia, if your manager isn’t willing to do the responsible thing and ask this person to STAY HOME (!), then all you can do — short of taking a few days off yourself!… — is steer clear of her to the extent that you can and keep using that hand sanitizer. It’s more than likely she does not have the H1N1 virus, but I certainly agree with you: She still shouldn’t be infecting the workplace with her germs.

I have a co-worker who is really sick…vomiting, fever, cough, chills etc. etc. She just got back from a little vacation came back sick and went home sick the first day back. She said she was told it wasn’t the Swine Flu, but…doesn’t it take days to get the results? She wouldn’t know right then and there if she has it! she didn’t even bring a doctor’s note!!!
I have asked my manager when does it become everyone’s concern to make sure she stays home because here no one wants to be around her as sick as she is.
I do carry my own hand sanitizer…a big 10oz bottle that is Mine as the stores don’t have many so I’m not sharing.
Please give me some advice as I am freaking out. I don’t want to get sick.
Thank you!

C. — Is there any way you could start your vacation early — like, tomorrow? If not, bear in mind that the CDC as well as the Mexican health authorities have said that the H1N1 virus is NOT spread by people breathing on each other (or even coughing on each other) but by contact via the hands, i.e., you touch something an infected person has touched and then touch your own nose or mouth. So if you suspect this coworker has the virus — although, you know, he may just have a cold or hay fever…! — get yourself a big bottle of hand sanitizer and use it every time you touch something he may have touched. Also, wash your hands often. You should be OK!

Annie – thank you for your response. Do you have any advice as far as how I should proceed from here? I know for a fact that my co-worker will be in tomorrow regardless. Do I stay home for 2 weeks – without pay (I have a vacation coming up in 2 weeks – I’m not going anywhere, just staying around home), do I bite the bullet & wear a mask? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

C., doesn’t your boss watch the news (or read the papers)? The Centers for Disease Control and even the president have said repeatedly that people with flu symptoms should stay home — which is common sense anyway, isn’t it? I wonder about the egos of people who are so willing to spread their germs to everybody who’s unlucky enough to work with them. Do they think they’re indispensable, so they must come in? So few of us really are that important, whatever we may think! My motto: If you have paid sick days, USE THEM.

I’m being made to feel like an insane crazy person at my work. My co-worker was sneezing all day Friday (luckily, I was out of the office) and has had flu-like symptoms all weekend (body aches, sore throat, congestion…). He was going to come in to work today, but I asked my boss to please ask him to stay home. I’m being made to feel like I am over-reacting, and that I shouldn’t be concerned. Why do people who take precautions and are concerned (for many reasons) have to be made to feel like they are crazy? If I wouldn’t be ostracized for it I would be wearing a mask!

CM, they’re probably just being extremely cautious. Employers have a legal obligation under OSHA (the federal Occupational Health and Safety Act) to provide a safe workplace, so it sounds as if they’re trying to do that. Don’t worry! Even if your coworker has swine flu (which it’s by no means certain that she does!), the incubation period is 24 hours. If you haven’t gotten sick within one day of contact with her or her belongings, then you aren’t going to. But man, who needs one more stress on top of everything else that’s going on, right?!?

A worker just got back from Mexico and came into work. They have her desk covered in plastic and biohazard signs. I stumbled upon it by accident as I work on another floor. The company is not being public about this threat. I wonder if she is sick or what. I work at a company struggling right now. I think they are thinking they can’t afford to shut the place down. I pray she doesn’t have the flu after all.

Get all the facts you need about the h1n1 virus at

http://h1n1virusfacts.com

I purchased hand sanitizers for each vehicle, and my desk at work. I clean my hands whenever I touch anything outside of my personal space. Also, I no longer shake peoples hands as I have noticed more and more people do not wash their hands after using the restroom. My company has implemented an awareness campaign that broadcasts on monitors around our facility, which is very proactive.