Responsibilities Managers and Supervisors

• Provide hand washing facilities and make sure these are kept clean, properly stocked and in good working order.
• Provide alcohol-based hand sanitiser, tissues and cleaning supplies.
• Promote good hygiene practices, e.g. display posters on handwashing and respiratory hygiene.
• Keep the workplace clean and hygienic. Regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces such as door handles and workstations helps prevent contamination.
• Visit the Smart traveller website before arranging business travel to destinations with cases of COVID-19. Workers who become sick while travelling or after returning from affected areas should seek immediate medical advice and notify their employer.
• Encourage workers who are sick with respiratory illness to stay home until they are recovered.
• If someone becomes ill with respiratory symptoms at work, isolate them by placing them in a room or an area away from others.
• Arrange for the person to be sent home and advise them to seek medical advice. If they are very unwell, call an ambulance.
• If a worker is confirmed to have COVID-19, call Coronavirus Health Information Line 1800 020 080 for advice. Inform co-workers about possible exposure to COVID-19 but maintain confidentiality. Advise workers to seek immediate medical advice if they develop symptoms or are concerned about their health.

• Washing hands often, with soap and water, or carrying hand sanitiser and using it as needed.
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or flexed elbow when coughing or sneezing, dispose of tissues immediately after use and wash your hands or apply hand sanitiser.
• Avoid close contact with anyone who has cold or flu-like symptoms.
• See a health care professional if feeling unwell.
• If unwell, avoiding contact with others (including shaking hands or other touching, such as hugging).

A novel (new) strain of coronavirus which originated in Hubei Province, China in 2019 can cause a respiratory disease called COVID-19.

COVID-19 spreads from person to person in a similar way to the flu:

• From close contact with an infected person
• From touching objects or surfaces contaminated by the sneeze or cough of an infected person and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
• COVID-19 can cause symptoms similar to the flu, including fever, cough, sore throat, tiredness or shortness of breath.

Most people who are infected experience mild to moderate symptoms from which they fully recover. However, some people develop more serious illness with pneumonia and other complications. People at increased risk of serious illness include the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions (e.g. diabetes, heart and lung disease) or a weakened immune system.

It is important to remember that most people who become ill with respiratory symptoms at work are likely suffering from a cold, the flu or other respiratory illness – not COVID-19.