Workers are exposed to many dangerous things, including the unwelcome insects. Insects can be a nuisance, but they can also be a danger. If your workers are stung by an insect such as a bee or a wasp, or even a hornet, it might not be a big deal. In most cases, bites and stings cause discomfort. However, in other situations, most often with bites from more aggressive insect species, the bite can turn into an allergic reaction and if not treated immediately, lead to even catastrophic results. Every workplace needs to be protected from such occurrences. Something as small as a fire ant can cause a lot of damage and put your employees at great risk. The worksites with birdbaths, buckets of water, old tires, clogged gutters, and other outdoor equipment are at a much higher risk that indoor workspaces. However, the risk is still present everywhere.

‘’It isn’t just the conditions in which employees work. It is also their location. Just think of the West Nile Virus – it killed over fifty people in a single year, which is more than the highest casualty rate recorded in the past.’’ – shares Elisabeth Webber, writer at Brillassignment.co.uk.As a good employer, you want to protect your workers from diseases spread from insect bites, as well as complications that arise as a result of allergies, bacteria, viruses and parasites. The West Nile virus infection is just one of the many, since infected mosquitoes and ticks can carry anything from bacteria to Lyme disease. Statistics say that in a period of nine years between 2001 and 2010, an estimate of 6.8 million people visited emergency rooms in the US for insect sting and bite injuries.

With this in mind, you need to take the right precautions and measures to protect your employees from insects:

Keep them Informed

Before taking any measures to protect the employees, you need to inform them about ways to protect themselves. This is the only way to make sure that employees know what to do when an insect bites or stings them, what to watch for, and what to do to prevent it.

Your task is to discuss the following with them:

• Appropriate outfit that prevents insect bites, such as long-sleeved shirt and long pants, as well as socks.
• Use of repellents as stated in the label directions. Repellents can be used on clothing as per the label directions.
• Working indoors when insects are most active outdoors. For example, mosquitoes are known to be most active at dusk and dawn.

Inspect the Workplace

Your task and that of your employees is to inspect the workplace regularly to rid of breeding grounds as soon as possible. You can train your employees to watch out for this too, and inform you when something like that happens.

Fix and Remove Dangers from the Workplace

Inspecting the workplace includes identifying the leaking buckets, hoses or other things that hold water, and fixing it. It also includes clearing the clogged rained gutters, drilling holes into plant saucers and outdoor containers to prevent water accumulation, keeping pools, ponds and fountains circulating, etc.

To move things father, you can install foggers and mosquito traps, or add mosquito fish to the water sources.

Have Safety Meeting

Have safety meetings as often as possible. On these meetings, your job is to discuss everything related to safety, including insect safety. Let the employees know where you keep the repellant, teach them how to use it, identify the dangerous areas with them, and train them to handle such situations.

Be Prepared

As a safety expert, you need to be the most prepared of them all. This means having epinephrine auto injectors, learn first aid for sting bites, learn how to remove stingers, and have all the equipment necessary to perform a fast, first aid insect bite procedure.

Keep the Work Area as Clean as Possible

Insects can be found in the areas we discussed above, but also in dirty areas. The cleaner you keep the work area, the lower are the chances that insects will come for, let’s say, discarded food.

Teach Employees Insect Bite First Aid

Keeping the employees informed includes this essential point. You aren’t the only one who should know how to react when someone is bitten or stung and has a bad reaction. All your employees should know how to help themselves, as well as co-workers in case you are not there at the moment.

The insect bite first aid for a stinging insect is:

• Washing the site with water and soap
• Removing the stinger with a gauze over the area
• Ice application to reduce the swelling
• Monitoring the worker to ensure that they don’t have an allergic reaction

Call emergency if the worker shows symptoms

That’s it – the seven preparation tips that will reduce the chances of your employees being stung or bitten by an insect. Remember – this can happen no matter how hard you try, so the most important thing is to be prepared.

About the authorScott Mathews is a professional content writer at recruiting, HR management and work productivity. Scott`s biggest passion is blogging and travelling. He regularly takes part in different conferences and contributes his posts to different websites. Contact him on Facebook and Twitter.