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738 Workplace Hygiene and Illness Prevention Program Management
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Access to Information

Sharing relevant health and wellness information with employees builds trust and helps organizations make more informed decisions.

It is important to include employee input.

Management should readily provide employees access to information and resources pertinent to workplace health and wellness.

Examples of information and resources include:

  • effective hygiene practices
  • information on infectious diseases
  • effective disease prevention methods
  • employee rights

Involve Workers in the Program

Including employee input during program design and implementation improves the quality of the overall program while also creating a sense of ownership among employees.

You should involve employees in each of the following:

  • development of program goals
  • issue and suggestion reporting process
  • analyzing jobs, tasks, and processes
  • conducting site inspections
  • developing and revising procedures
  • training coworkers and new hires
  • evaluating program performance
  • identifying ways to improve the program

Remove Barriers

To participate meaningfully in the program, employees need to feel their input is welcome, and their voices are heard. Participation will be stifled if barriers inhibiting their involvement are not removed.

You can remove these barriers by:

  • ensuring employees at all levels of the organization can participate
  • providing education and training
  • enough time and resources to enable employee participation
  • ensuring reported concerns and suggestions are not used for disciplinary action
  • communicating program results to all employees

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

5-5. How can you remove barriers which might inhibit employees from participating in your hygiene and illness prevention program?