Don't Get Sick at Work!

The crappiest thing about work is that there is no such thing as a sick day a majority of the time. Basically, if you can still function, your boss wants you at work whether you are puking or not. I've been there, and likely you have too, but getting everyone else sick at work (or being the one who got sick because of someone else) is no fun. Avoid the nasty cycle at work this year (close quarters with your coworkers can make your skin crawl once you hear a cough) by taking the best precautions to not get sick at work. After all, in this economy, can we really afford to spend a day in bed, sick as three dogs?

Don't wait until someone is sick to be prepared. All it takes is just one stressful day or a sleepless night to weaken your immune system and take a seemingly harmless work germ and turn into a snotfest. Take your vitamin C and drink tons of water as the flu or cold season arrives (water helps to flush out that mucous which is trapping bacteria from entering your sinuses) and start taking a garlic supplement. Your goal is to boost your immune system and give your body a fighting chance before the germs even get into your system at work.

Carry around hand sanitizer, as you can quickly wipe down surfaces and your own hands if someone coughs or sneezes. Phone receivers, keyboards, countertops, and the stapler should be wiped down often, especially if someone is already showing signs of illness. You can carry around a sanitizing spray, hand sanitizing gel, or those little wipes that are great. Keep them at work to encourage other people to wipe down as well.

If you start to feel sick, take that sick day. Don't wait until you have been sick for days and still working to take a sick day. Take one at the onset of illness. Why? Because if you take a day of rest while the cold or flu is just beginning, you are giving yourself a better chance to fight it off, rather than being fullblown sick as all getout and then having to take off 2 or 3 days. Even worse, if you have made other coworkers ill, you can recatch what you gave them as you feel better. Take that sick day before you make yourself (and others) too sick to function.

Encourage sick coworkers to take a day off, and avoid too close contact with them as they are ill. If your coworker is still dragging themselves to work when they are ill, your best efforts to avoid getting sick yourself can be super compromised if you hang around them. If you don't remove the issue, more than likely it will spread. Nobody wants to make everyone else sick.

Your best defense of course is to have a great immune system to ward off those nasty germs and to have onhand when you need it the germ fighting tools to keep infections at bay. The workplace is a super common and prone place to become ill, and if you don't want to get sick at work, prevention is absolutely key. get tons of rest, drink lots of water, eat Vitamin-enriched foods, and you are well on your way to keeping those nasty germs out!

Source:

experience being sick at work and prevention