Act now to avoid a winter workplace wipeout

It starts with a single sneeze and before you know it everyone in the office is phoning in sick. There’s never a good time for a team to be floored by the flu, but if the run up to Christmas is a critical time for your business, act now to prevent a winter workplace wipeout. The Occupational Health experts at YourGP explain how.

Workplace super spreaders

Whatever your workspace set-up, if one employee comes down with the flu, the chances are others will soon follow. The flu is a highly contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. Those who contract it are contagious for about a day before symptoms start and they can remain contagious for up to a week after symptoms appear.

As the old saying goes, “coughs and sneezes spread diseases” and this is especially the case with the flu. Infected droplets released into the air after coughing or sneezing can be inhaled by others nearby or land on surfaces which, when touched, can easily enter the body via the mouth, nose or eyes.

No, it’s not just a bad cold

Typical flu symptoms include a high temperature, tiredness, body aches, dry cough, sore throat and headache. Whilst these unpleasant symptoms usually resolve after around a week of rest, the flu virus can prove much more serious for some people.

The flu can make chronic medical problems worse and in some cases it can trigger an extreme inflammatory response in the body and lead to sepsis. Those most at risk include pregnant women, people with pre-existing long term medical conditions e.g., COPD, asthma, heart and kidney problems, and those with lowered immunity due to disease or medication e.g., long term steroids and chemotherapy.

To get an idea of just how serious it can be, UK government statistics show the flu virus kills an average of 13,500 people in the UK every year.

Lessons learned from last year

The 2024-2025 flu season was one of the most severe in recent history. This was due to a combination of factors including decreased immunity following COVID-19 restrictions, lower vaccination rates, and the emergence of more severe flu strains.

For many businesses, last year’s flu season and the effect it had on their individual team members and overall productivity was a wake-up call. That’s why so many have already signed up to YourGP’s on-site corporate flu vaccination programme, to prevent a repeat of last year’s winter workplace wipeout.

On-site corporate flu vaccinations from YourGP

At YourGP, we aim to make the process of vaccinating your team as easy as possible. There’s no need to worry about individual employees taking time out at various points over the next few months and disrupting work schedules. Instead, a fully qualified nurse can come to your place of work to administer the flu vaccine to everyone at a time that suits you. Here’s how it works:

• We will provide you with a blank clinic template, allowing you to allocate each staff member an appointment slot. Alternatively, we can organise the clinic directly with your staff if you prefer.
• We will send you our flu consent form, which your staff can complete ahead of the corporate flu clinic date.
• We will organise one of our nurses (plus admin support if necessary) to attend your company premises and administer the flu vaccine to all staff who wish to receive it.
• The vaccination only takes a few minutes to administer and the vast majority of people will not experience any side-effects, so they can get back to work within minutes, safe in the knowledge they are protected this winter.

Act now to protect your team

Bookings for on-site corporate flu vaccinations are now open for winter 2025/26. For further information, simply call 0131 381 0322 or email occhealth@your.gp and we’ll be happy to help protect your team this winter.