Expert Advice: How to Keep Yourself Healthy in the Workplace

January 23, 2016

Do you have the tools you need to keep yourself healthy in the workplace?

The flu is responsible for an estimated 70 million missed work days and billions of dollars in lost productivity each year. According to the sixth annual Flu Season Survey from Staples, employees and employers are well aware of the impact of the flu on workplace productivity, but more than half of people surveyed (53 percent) say they have gone to work with the flu. Other findings include:

58 percent are still coming to work sick because they feel there is too much going on at work to take a sick day, an uptick from 30 percent in 2012.
Half of them feel the pressure to be at work or “tough it out,” and 25 percent don’t feel confident that someone else can handle their work when they’re out sick.
There is an even larger issue at the management level with 30 percent of business decision makers (BDMs) indicating their boss expects them to come to work if they have the flu, while only 19 percent of office workers say so.

Dr. Charles Gerba, professor in the Departments of Soil, Water and Environmental Science (College of Agriculture), and Epidemiology and Biostatistics (College of Public Health) at the University of Arizona, and Chris Correnti, Vice President and General Manager, Staples Facility Solutions both joined me to offer solutions to help keep yourself healthy in the workplace – whether a home office, small-to-mid-sized business or large enterprise.

Take a look at our discussion below.

Meet Our Guests:

Dr. Charles Gerba is a professor in the Departments of Soil, Water and Environmental Science (College of Agriculture), and Epidemiology and Biostatistics (College of Public Health) at the University of Arizona. His recent research encompasses the transmission of pathogens by water, food and domestic environments; development of new disinfectants; domestic microbiology and quantitative microbial risk assessment.

He has been an author on more than 500 articles including several books in environmental microbiology. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Microbiology and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He has been a consultant to the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and numerous state and local agencies. He has appeared on numerous TV shows including Good Morning America, Today Show, 20/20, CNN News, 48 Hours, ABC News, The View etc.. His work has been quoted in Readers Digest, Prevention Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Health, Men’s Health and Entrepreneur, among other notable publications.

Chris Correnti is the Vice President and General Manager for Staples Facility Solutions responsible for all the products that businesses need to help keep their facility clean. He has more than 20 years of experience ranging in the consumer packaged goods/distribution industry.

He has managed programs and teams that service multiple channels, including Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer, and verticals like education, government and retail. Chris has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and a Masters in Business Administration from Bentley College.