Return to work fears

Hi all

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions or thoughts to help me.

I have been working from home for nearly a year. I work 3 days a week and really want to go back in the office for at least a day or so as I am limited with what I can do from home and I feel a bit out of the team (I could do with a work phone setup and would need other computer based tasks, but to be fair my home is not the best for long term permanent) but I am struggling with how it will be.

There are the usual covid distancing and masks wearing rules.

I work in the office as an administrator in a school. My main concern is that one of the tasks I was asked to do when I was there was work with the senior leader helping him with safeguarding admin tasks. This would involve creating folders to hold documents, some of which I have to photocopy and organise, too much touching (I know I can wash my hands or use hand gel but I can hardly keep rushing to the bathroom every time I touch something to then come back to touch something again. I will be given paperwork from other senior staff to file which is not always straight forward. I will need to go to the senior leaders room as the documents remain there under lock and key. I don’t know how I could do the job and feel safe. (I’m not sure how they’ve been doing it whilst I’ve not been there)

I honestly want to work in my office with my other task which I was doing from home. I want to avoid having to move things around possibly touching and having too much interaction but I don’t know how. Also I need to avoid going up and down to areas where the classes are but I need to check if the children are in class. Again at present my colleagues have been going up and down doing this but have told me they are not happy about it. (we have no phones in class and teachers do not check emails and would not be able to send an email)

I will be dong a risk assessment but I am not sure what to do as I don’t want to return and be unenthusiastic or be a problem as everyone else is doing what they are asked with no issue.

Any advice, comments appreciated. Thank you.

hi buy yourself some hand gel pocket size so you have it with you at all times. wear a shield and a face mask. If you can make sure your area is well ventilated.

I am assuming there is a testing policy in place for employees? why are you feeling scared? what i mean is were you working before covid? if so were you aware you could catch flu off someone, or noro virus etc?

Unless you are on immunosupressed drugs anyway you would be at risk and therefore not able to go anyway. but if your not on drugs your health if you get covid with MS is no worse then anyone else unless you get a temperature etc. I know a few friends who have had common colds with MS and it floored them for days.

I think if it was me i would want to ensurre there was an active testing in place. you can keep away from someone as much as you can and perhaps change the way the work is done so you have less contact. I would go and see what is in place, do the risk assessment and go from there. Have you not had your vaccine yet? etc.

its difficult and i understand your angst but when i used to work many moons ago i never thought about dangers of catching flu, colds etc off people, now its become more aware.

Just go see and then make your mind up. IMHO.

x

buy some catering gloves, very similar to surgical gloves but blue and cheaper in price. That would negate the anxiety about handling folders.

thats a very good point CC58 but sometimes you need hands as folders can be difficult to handle if you wear gloves. but yes a good alternative. x

I don’t get the problem. You can touch a million folders all with Covid on them… As kindmg as you don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth you won’t infect yourself. So you can work to your heart is content whilst ensuring you don’t touch yourself and then either wash your hands or use some gel. If you can’t stop touching yourself, messing with your hair like some people do (notice I didn’t specify ladies!!) or rubbing your nose, then you hsve problems… But if you are like many vulnerable people you will have trained some caution into your everyday movements

PPE will protect you…keep using hand gel and that’s the best you can do.

Boudsx

I don’t get the problem really. You can touch a million folders all with Covid on them… As long as you don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth you won’t infect yourself. So you can work to your heart is content whilst ensuring you don’t touch yourself and then either wash your hands or use some gel. If you can’t stop touching yourself, messing with your hair like some people do (notice I didn’t specify ladies!!) or rubbing your nose, then you hsve problems… But if you are like many vulnerable people you will have trained some caution into your everyday movements

Hi, I can understand your desire to be back at work and yet nervous at the same time.

However, I’d agree with Smilesofasummernight that the risk (already low) will be nigh on zero if don’t touch face/eyes before cleaning hands.

Whilst COVID can survive on different surfaces for a variable length of time, for paper to be contaminated would mean someone not wearing a mask who had COVID spluttering over it thus spreading infected droplets.

I work in NHS and the area I work in has done contact tracing (not our main role) when a member of staff is COVID+ve. Surface contamination is not high on the list for riskiness and a lot of paper is still shuffled b’n folk n the NHS.

Main risk for you would be to be within 2 m for more than 15 minutes of someone with COVID and you weren’t wearing a Type 2R (fluid resistant surgical mask) or for one minute or less with same individual at a distance of <1 metre.

Hope this helps a little.

Agree with Smilesofasummernight really, but in addition to this, remember the vaccine rollout will provide added protection, are you able to have had the vaccine yourself? I think it would be reasonable for employees everywhere to be able to get tested if they have common colds, or to just wear masks when in confined close contact - but really we have to accept some element of risk I suppose - I think that every time I get in a car! Perhaps you can speak to your ‘boss’ and try and agree on something that suits both you and the needs of the job role without causing you undue anxiety. Good luck x

Squash is right - the main risk comes from being in a poorly ventilated room for a length of time. Although there were reports suggesting we are at risk from touching contaminated objects with a metal object contaminated for x hours, paper for y hours, there have been subsequent reports discrediting this and saying that the viral load from picking up covid from touching objects is so low as to either not make you ill at all or barely affect you. I’m not sure which report to believe, and still quarantine my mail and wash my cucumbers etc but it does seem that in all probability I am going ott. Until definite proof is available!

Hi, I think you are panicking abit, probably because you have been out of the work environment for so long. i have worked in pharmacy all the way through and so long as you wear a face mask and use hand gel/wash hands, you will be fine. Go talk to your boss and see the proceduresin place and im sure you will be reassured