admin @ Mon, 2006-09-11 11:00
Q. I come into daily contact with a co-worker rumored to have AIDS. He works in the kitchen, making food for co-workers and customers, and this worries me. Given the kind of work, I think he should at least wear latex gloves, which some of us do when we have a cold. He doesn't, claiming they feel restrictive.
I've spoken to my manager twice about this and he says that the AIDS is "no problem," that he's spoken to corporate management and they're comfortable there's no risk. That's great for him, since he doesn't come into daily contact with this man, but I do. I feel sorry for all the people that may be affected when a cut on this guy's hand creates a life-altering situation for them after they eat food prepared in our company's kitchen. If nothing can be done, I'm quitting. Can you help?
Most of us know little about AIDS other than that we fear it. Medical research, however, suggests we have less to fear from HIV-positive co-workers than we believe.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, medical research clearly identifies the ways in which one person contracts HIV from another. You can contract HIV by having unprotected sex with an infected person; through sharing contaminated needles or receiving contaminated blood; or via birth to or breast-feeding from an infected mother.
Casual contact, even contact that appears high-risk, may pose no real harm. As an example, after the widely reported case in which a dentist infected six patients, medical researchers conducted intensive investigations involving more than 22,000 patients of 63 HIV-infected physicians, surgeons and dentists. They found no HIV infections despite the supposed risks. Why? HIV contagion requires direct bodily fluid contact.
Casual contact such as sharing work space with someone infected with HIV or exposing skin surfaces during touching, hugging or sharing of office equipment, work clothing or office furniture fails to transmit the HIV virus. According to medical research, no one gets AIDS by eating food touched by an infected person or by breathing the air exhaled by an HIV- infected co-worker; by sharing a bathroom with or through sitting on the same toilet seats as someone with AIDS; through light kissing or mouth-to-skin kissing with an HIV carrier; or via paper cuts or mosquito bites.
Important to you, the CDC states, "There is no known risk of HIV transmission to co-workers, clients or consumers from contact in industries such as food-service establishments. Food-service workers known to be infected with HIV need not be restricted from work unless they have other infections or illnesses such as diarrhea or hepatitis A."
This might not comfort you. You might also find your manager's continued reluctance to answer questions or to share your concerns disingenuous or scary. Your manager, however, walks a tightrope. First, the rumors you heard might prove unfounded. Second, the law obligates him to respect your co-worker's confidentiality. The moment he acknowledges that your co-worker has AIDS, he risks creating an illegally hostile work environment for someone with Americans with Disabilities protection or violating medical privacy laws.
If the CDC information relieves some of your concerns, you have a way to address your health and safety concerns other than quitting. If your kitchen's rules require your co-worker to wear latex or rubber gloves and to practice safe hygiene, then he needs to. If he or other co-workers don't follow hygiene and safety rules consistently, they could expose others to illnesses including influenza, diarrhea, Escherichia coli (E. Coli), staphylococcus aureus (staph), salmonella and hepatitis A. The federal Food and Drug Administration's code urges every kitchen worker to wear gloves while preparing uncooked foods.
Thus, shift your focus from rumor to known danger. If your co-worker persists in not wearing gloves, he poses a genuine danger to you and others even without AIDS. Anyone working in a kitchen who has an open cut, wound or lesion on the hand or arm needs to cover this with a bandage and to wear a glove or otherwise fully cover it. If you share this safety concern with your manager, your vigilance might result in your co-worker taking the protections or facing discipline or termination.
Finally, because the CDC estimates that one in 265 employees have AIDS, those who work in a large organization might unknowingly work around an HIV infected co-worker. If you or someone you care for wants more or updated information, you can contact the Centers for Disease Control HIV/AIDS 24-hour hot line at 800-232-4636.
Lynne Curry is a local management trainer, consultant and syndicated columnist. Her advice and opinion column appears Mondays. Questions for her column may be faxed to her at 258-2157 or mailed to her c/o Anchorage Daily News, P.O. Box 149001, Anchorage 99514-9001. Her e-mail address is lynne@thegrowthcompany.net .
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