head lice

nlrife

I have an associate who just informed us she has head lice.  She is relatively isolated in her work space - do we send out an all company email notifying associates to check (not telling them who currently has a problem of course!).  She was sent home immediately and has sought treatment.  This is a new one for me!

 

HR36

Yuck! You might also want to check any high-backed chairs in conference rooms (especially cloth chairs) where the employee may have sat. Kids at my son's camp got lice and it is VERY hard to get rid of! I wonder if you can get a doctor's certificationthat she is lice free before allowing her to return to work??

bevhunt

Yes, follow the lead of school systems and send out an e-mail or handouts (if not all employees have access to e-mail).

Be generic and say "there has been an incident of head lice reported in our office (facility) ..."  You might want to add that this has nothing to do with the cleanliness of the facility. Tell employees to begin treatment with over the counter medications if they experience symptoms or to contact their healthcare provider for instructions.

You might want to log onto your state Department of Health website to see if there are any handouts on this subject that you can use.

ntk104

I agree with Bev Hunt totally.  You might also want to clean the area that this person was in with a disinfectant.  Of course, this would have to be done after the rest of the employees had left for the day or before they return in the morning.