Every kind of business in every sector relies on its employees to either offer customers and clients a reliable service and/or generate revenues. But, these valuable employees, especially those in high-risk occupations, are all vulnerable to illnesses which take them out of the workplace.
There are strong moral and social arguments that place responsibility on employers to protect personnel from common illnesses like flu, or any international diseases such as typhoid that they may encounter in their line of work.
Employers who offer corporate vaccination programmes undoubtedly play a pivotal role in not only limiting the spread of infectious diseases among their workforce, but among the wider public which it serves.
However, apart from the many health benefits that work-based vaccination programmes offer, they can actually save businesses money too.
Here’s how:
Any employees who are at risk of infection, perhaps because[LM1] they fall into high-risk groups such as pregnant women or those with health conditions like diabetes and asthma, because they’re exposed to diseases as frontline employees in health and social care or because they regularly travel overseas, will rightly want to protect their health with vaccinations.
Getting any necessary vaccinations often means taking time out of the working day to attend a clinic, but when large numbers of employees leave the workplace, even for short spells of time, the impact on productivity and continuity can be significant.
If, for example, an organisation has 45 employees who all need seasonal flu jabs, individual attendance at vaccination appointments could amount to 45 hours of lost productivity and disrupted workplace practice. That’s the equivalent of losing an employee’s input and expertise for over a week.
With a workplace vaccination programme in place, all 45 employees could conveniently get the vaccines they need in around half a day, with minimal disruption to working practice.
Absence from the workplace can be costly for companies in any sector.
In a summary of the impact of workplace absence compiled by Unison, short-term illnesses like flu cost the UK economy £1.35bn in 2013 which for employers, equates to £522 for every single employee absent from the workplace for an average of 5 days.
Workplace vaccinations are so effective at preventing and limiting the spread of infection that they can reduce this absenteeism by 45% which, over two years, can amount to financial savings of “9.2 times the cost” of offering an onsite vaccine programme.
The proactive measures that any organisation takes to secure the health of its staff and protect the wider public from illnesses can secure its reputation as a desirable company to work for and do business with.
This can offer long-term financial benefits in terms of attracting and retaining high-calibre personnel to the workforce and securing a loyal client and customer base for them to work with.
Whether employees need vaccines for seasonal flu, are at risk of exposure to blood-borne viruses including Hepatitis or need protection from infectious diseases in foreign countries, a corporate vaccination programme can safeguard their health and company revenues.
