All over the world, workplaces have been concerned with controlling infections and this is not different in the UAE as it is exposed to global health crises such as Covid-19. Infection control has become compulsory for every business in Dubai and the wider UAE due to global pandemics like COVID-19 that require protection of the local population from sickness while keeping their economies running. It does not matter whether you are a healthcare provider, in hospitality or construction, among other sectors; maintaining a clean and healthy working environment is important. Our main goal at AhlanSafety is to ensure that enterprises within the UAE establish practical and effective ways of preventing every type of infection that adheres to both international and local standards of health.
This article provides insight about infection prevention strategies focusing on best practices towards maintaining work environments free from diseases within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In following these techniques, you will be able to offer your employees along with customers a healthier and safer working environment.
Understanding the Importance of Infection Control in the UAE
Dubai, especially in the field of businesses, tourism and commerce is a global centre attracting people from many parts of the world. However, despite its economic advantage that comes with international reputation also exposes it to dangerous communicable ailments. This means that without effective mechanisms against them, some illnesses may tend to spread more rapidly because of hot weather conditions associated with desert climates found here compared to those which exist in temperate regions.
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Regulatory Requirements: The government has established strict laws regarding health and safety issues aimed at curbing infectious diseases spread at workplaces. But complying with them will save organisations heavy fines imposed by authorities while protecting employees as well as consumers. For detailed information on how to comply with these regulations, you can visit our section on Health and Safety Compliance.
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Business Continuity: When left unchecked, infections can interrupt work processes leading to reduced productivity levels, employee absenteeism, and temporary closures. In order to prevent outbreaks and ensure business continuity, best practices in infection control must be put in place.
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Employee Well-being: A healthy workforce is a productive one. This means that implementing measures of controlling infections prevents diseases among your employees reducing the number of days they take off due sickness thereby enhancing their general motivation.
Key Infection Control Best Practices
A comprehensive approach including hygiene practices, employee training and environmental controls is crucial for preventing infections at workplaces.Hand hygiene
Hand hygiene is an effective method for preventing the spread of infections. It is important to encourage every staff person to perform hand washing frequently using soap plus running water for not less than 20 seconds especially after using wash-room facilities or before eating food or even when someone coughs or sneezes.
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Hand Sanitizers: Place alcohol-based sanitizers (with minimum 60% alcohol content) at such common places as entrances, canteens and office tables.
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Education: Offer regular education about the importance of hand washing as well as ways of doing it properly through hands-on exercises during workshops.
Respiratory Hygiene
Respiratory hygiene entails avoiding transmission of pathogens by way of coughing, sneezing and breathing. These efforts are particularly essential in confined spaces like offices and meeting rooms.
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Cough Etiquette: Employees should be encouraged to cover their mouth with tissues or elbow when they have a cough or sneeze. Dispose tissue immediately and then wash hands afterwards.
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Masks: Wearing masks can help reduce respiratory infections in crowded offices where it may be impossible to maintain social distancing at all times such as meetings while managing through a pandemic crisis.
Different companies use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
In certain industries, such as healthcare and construction, personal protective equipment (PPE) is a must-have because workers are exposed to many infections.
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Right PPE: Provide employees with the right PPE based on their job description and likelihood of exposure. These may include gloves, masks and shoes.
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Correct Use: Employees should be trained to know the proper steps for wearing, removing and disposing of PPE so as to prevent contamination.
Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection
The cleaning of surfaces and equipment in work places needs to be done regularly in order to avoid spreading diseases.
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High-Touch Surfaces: For instance, items like doorknobs, light switches, cell phones, keyboards and workstations which are used by several people during a day need regular cleaning or disinfecting among other recommendations.
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Approved Disinfectants: A country’s health authorities have recommended specific disinfectants that can be used against specific pathogens. Also you can check if they meet the requirements set by The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP).
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Cleaning Protocols: Recommendations regarding how often different rooms in an office should be cleaned are found in this document; it also suggests ways one would use when undertaking cleaning processes.
Air Quality Management
Proper air quality helps reduce the spread of airborne infectious agents especially in confined spaces.
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Ventilation: Increasing the flow of outdoor air through windows and HVAC systems can help improve ventilation within workplaces. In areas where ventilation is limited place air purifiers with HEPA filters.
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Regular Maintenance: Regular maintenance and cleaning promote clean HVAC systems thus making it harder for them to accumulate dirt particles that facilitate growth of disease causing microorganisms including COVID 19 virus among others that transmits through air or respiratory droplets.
Physical Distancing
Physical distancing refers to avoiding close contact with others as much as possible so as to limit the spread of infections among populations in crowded places.
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Workspace Arrangement: For example, working areas should be spaced at least 1.5 to 2 metres apart to reduce chances of spreading airborne diseases. Use partitions or other physical barriers if necessary.
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Meeting Management: For instance, virtual meetings and face-to-face meetings with a limited number of participants can be organised as a form of reducing transmission from one person to another during them.
Health Screening and Monitoring
Regular health screening and monitoring can help identify and isolate infected individuals before they spread the infection to others.
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Temperature Checks: One way this is done is by taking body temperature measurements at workplace entrances or gates so as to identify employees who have high temperatures which could indicate fever caused by many infections.
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Health Declarations: Before employees enter their workplaces they are required to fill out forms that declare they do not exhibit any disease symptoms nor have been close with infected persons.
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Contact Tracing: This involves revealing contacts between infected individuals and others whom they may have come into direct contact with in order to contain the disease outbreak.
Employee Training and Awareness
Infection prevention education for all members of staff ensures that every employee knows what he/she has to do in order to maintain a safe environment within their workplaces.
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Regular Training: The last one being training sessions on infection control practices which you are supposed to hold regularly according to the risks specific to your place of work
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Communication: You can use posters, email reminders, emails or any other communications means available for reminding workers about some key issues on infection prevention/control including updates on it for example COVID 19 cases nearby accompanied by how people should behave during such times.
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Developing an emergency response plan in readiness for an outbreak that could occur on premises due to infections caused by the coronavirus pandemic hitting mostly all countries making workplaces shutdowns either partially or completely owing government orders meant curbing its spread till the moment when a vaccine will be found.
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Isolation Protocols: Another way is through the use of isolation protocols that will assist in separating workmates who show signs associated with infections during working hours.
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Continuity Planning: Even if there is a pandemic, make sure decision making and communication channels remain open so that critical business operations can continue as usual.
Collaboration with Health Authorities
To stay updated on the latest infection control guidelines and recommendations, one should work hand in hand with local health authorities like Dubai Health Authority (DHA) or The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP).
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Compliance: Ensure your workplace complies with local health regulations and guidelines.
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Reporting: Inform relevant health authorities of every confirmed infection case and act according to their advice on how to handle it.
Case Study: Infection Control in a Dubai Office Environment
This article looks at how a large office in Dubai successfully implemented infection control practices with the assistance of AhlanSafety. The company was facing some difficulties posed by open plan office design and frequent interactions between employees. By implementing these measures, we were able to sustain the viability of our business through maintaining a safe working environment that would not disrupt operations significantly.
Step 1: Assessment: First, AhlanSafety conducted an extensive assessment of the work environment to identify potential risks and areas needing improvement.
Step 2: Implementation: For instance, hand hygiene stations were installed, workplaces were reconfigured for social distancing, and regular health monitoring was introduced in the company premises.
Step 3: Training: The employees underwent training on infection control management with continuous updates as the situation changed.
Step 4: Monitoring: Feedback from clients and new health authority guidelines have necessitated ongoing amendment of infection control measures as part of the regular review process for this intervention strategy.
How AhlanSafety Can Support Your Infection Control Efforts
At AhlanSafety we are committed to helping businesses in the UAE maintain safe and healthy working environments. With regards to our infection control services;
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Customised Training: Our tailored training programs on infection control cut across different sectors enabling workers to be knowledgeable enough thus avoiding possible infections.
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Consultancy Services – We also offer consultancy services where our experts will help you come up with a comprehensive infection control strategy that suits your workplace needs specifically
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Compliance Support- We understand that businesses need support in ensuring they comply with local health regulations as well as keeping informed about the latest guidance from health authorities
Conclusion
Infection control is very important when it comes to safety at work, especially in UAE where best practices must be followed to protect employees and maintain business continuity. Using the recommended guidelines discussed in this paper and AhlanSafety as your partner, you will establish a healthy and safe working space that meets the highest standards of infection prevention.
While it is important to keep your workforce well guarded against infections; it also plays a major role in enhancing the general welfare of the community. Enquire now from AhlanSafety for more on how we can support your firm’s safety and conformity efforts regarding infection control.