Herpes Exposure at Work
Kemp
7 Posts
We just found out that a temporary employee who worked in our plant for the past couple of months (yesterday was her last day) told her supervisor yesterday that she has herpes. The temporary employee had open sores on her arms, her neck and across the lower part of her back. She had been seeing a doctor but did not tell anyone what the problem was until now.
She also told the supervisor that she is and has been contagious.
I know we have to be careful when dealing with private health information. However, we are concerned about other employees being exposed to the herpes virus. What action, if any, should we take?
She also told the supervisor that she is and has been contagious.
I know we have to be careful when dealing with private health information. However, we are concerned about other employees being exposed to the herpes virus. What action, if any, should we take?
Comments
I hope this helps, at least a little bit.
>12-30-05 AT 12:59 PM (CST)[/font]
>
>Since the employee is gone - is there any
>potential for future exposure that has not
>already occurred? If not, the damage has been
>done and I would make information available
>about herpes symptoms and treatment. I know
>nothing about that "disease" and would guess
>that other employees do not, either. As far as
>risk, I would worry most about the liability of
>the company, not the privacy issue. I would
>keep the prior employee's name out of the
>information distributed. This kind of reminds
>me of the lice situation that occurs at
>elementary schools when there is an outbreak.
>I hope this helps, at least a little bit.
We did something very similiar - announce a possible exposure and give information on symptoms and treatment. Just don't identify the person. Our situation was an employee with measles that worked in the same area with two pregnant ladies. I spoke to both of them directly about it - the rest was just a general announcement.