- Coming to work sick puts others at risk for getting occupational illnesses.sick woman image by forca from Fotolia.com
According to MedlinePlus, occupational diseases have to do with getting sick at work, either through contagious ailments, like the flu, or due to your job type. Some jobs, for instance, require employees to be exposed to gases and chemicals, which can lead to occupational-related, adverse health problems. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences explains that occupational diseases can occur as isolated incidents or are contagious. - According to the Center for Disease Control, H1N1 Influenza, commonly known as the swine flu, is a contagious occupational disease that impacts the work environment. H1N1 Influenza can be transmitted through direct or indirect contact with people infected with the illness. H1N1 Influenza becomes an occupational illness because of its widespread impact on a company's work force. This, and other types of flues, can wipe out a whole department of an office, if coworkers are proximal with others who have it.
- MRSA is a type of staph infection and, according to the Center for Disease Control, MRSA becomes an occupational disease risk for people who work in hospital settings, nursing homes and surgical centers because they may be exposed to infected patients. In the work place, MRSA can be transmitted from direct skin contact with someone who is infected with it, as well as by sharing items that may have been exposed to somebody else's MRSA infection, such as towels.
- There are many variables involved in someone getting cancer, but some of those variables may have something to do with the person's work environment. Occupational cancer, according to the Center for Disease Control, can be affiliated with cancer-causing agents in the work place or work environment, such as carcinogenic agents. When workers are exposed to carcinogenic agents on the job, they run the risk of developing occupational cancer.
- Blood-borne, infectious diseases constitute another occupational illness that employees can be exposed to at work. Spreading blood-borne, infectious diseases, such as HIV or Hepatitis C, occurs when people are exposed to blood or bodily fluids. Healthcare workers, like doctors, nurses and emergency response teams, are more vulnerable to these exposures due to the nature of their work. Office employees, however, can still be at risk for these diseases if they do not take appropriate precautions when dealing with first aid issues, or when they clean up blood or bodily fluid spills in the work place.
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