Protect your employees, your customers,
and your brand with
‍Zero Hour Health

A healthy workforce boosts productivity, lowers absenteeism, fosters a positive work environment, and most importantly, lowers the risk to your company's brand and reputation.

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Trusted by the top names in business + hospitality

Health Crisis Prevention + Management
For Modern Businesses

Whether you have a growing hospitality group or a major nationwide concept, it’s imperative that you protect your reputation and brand loyalty from illness, outbreaks, and other health crises.

Zero Hour Health’s team of advisors will help you prevent and manage your risk so your team can focus on growing the business.

Advisory from the most knowledgeable industry experts, 24/7/365.

Whether it’s navigating a foodborne illness outbreak, receiving guidance on best practices with your local health department, or general questions about your employees’ health, we’re here to keep you, your staff, and your business safe.
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Detecting and preventing illnesses, before they go public.

The best way to stop a crisis is to prevent it from becoming one in the first place. We’ll help you create a culture of safe working, detect problematic illnesses before they spread, and, most importantly, keep your business out of the news.
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Protecting the most important asset in your businesses: your brand.

An outbreak is one of the few crises that can permanently damage a brand. From local news, to the nightly news, to the trading floors, your reputation is the foundation of your business and its value. Protecting that asset is a top priority.
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Screening and assisting the hiring process for at-risk positions.

Whether you need to do physical examinations to ensure a prospective employee can do the job, or your industry regulations call for a battery of exams, we streamline this process and handle it for every step of the way. Save time, hire quicker, and protect yourself against workers' comp claims.

A suite of services to support every aspect of your operations.

This is just a core breakdown of the main services we provide to our clients. We build highly customized solutions to support any need you have.

ZHH Pro

ZHH Pro is our standard, concierge advisory service. We tailor our support to solve your most pressing needs, whether you've got 6 locations or 600 locations. We can provide 24/7/365, high-level clinical support to keep your business running.
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Wellness Checks

The single best way to prevent illness in the workplace is to prevent sick employees from showing up in the first place. ZHH Wellness Checks are the best solution to identify and assess potentially sick employees.
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Vaccination Programs

From Flu to Hep A, vaccinations are a vital part of keeping your workforce healthy. We help businesses identify employee immunization history, track their records, and facilitate vaccinations both on-site and off.
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Exams & Regulatory Testing

Ensure that potential employees are fit to perform their roles safely and effectively using our industry-best pre-employment programs. We help employers maintain compliance with stringent industry standards and regulations without adding friction to the hiring process.
Learn More >>
Inbox
October 23, 2023
Shigella in WA, Hep A in Canada and Salmonella from songbirds

Health News:

  • The average employer-sponsored health insurance premium rose 7% to $24,000 per year. (Bloomberg)
  • A Canadian worker at two different Edmonton airport restaurants worked while sick with Hep A starting in early October. (Edmonton Journal)
  • Paxlovid will cost $1,390 for a five-day course of pills but should be covered by most health insurance policies, and insurers will pay far less than that. (WSJ)
  • Yakima County, WA, is reporting a shigella outbreak with 72 cases (compared to 10 last year), and no source yet identified. (NBC Now)
  • A new antiviral pill may help prevent loss of taste and smell with COVID. (Nature)
  • A bill before Congress seeks to create OSHA guidance on opioid-reversal kits for employers and the federal government. (Rep. Watson Coleman)
  • The risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome is 6x higher after having COVID, and lower than baseline after getting the vaccine. (CIDRAP)
  • Rite Aid will close 154 stores which may affect where patients get their prescriptions. (NY Times)
  • A winter 2020-21 outbreak of Salmonella, with a majority of cases on the west coast, has been linked to contact with dead wild songbirds. (CIDRAP)
  • Viral load is highest on Day 4 with Omicron versus Day 1 with earlier variants, which impacts rapid testing - and why you should wait a few days to test. (MedPage Today) 
  • Leishmania mexicana, a flesh-eating parasite spread through sand flies, is now likely spreading locally in the southern US. (CBS)
  • H. pylori, a common bacteria found in 1 in 3 Americans’ stomachs, can lead to cancer. (The Atlantic)


Mental Health & Substance Use News: 

  • The mental health crisis for doctors is a growing problem for their patients. (Vox)
  • As teen overdoses rise, some colleges are distributing naloxone and fentanyl test strips. (NPR)
  • Genetics may play a part in someone’s risk of attempting suicide. (Fox)
  • Sleeping less is associated with symptoms of depression. (Washington Post)

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or need help, call 988 or message the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. 

‍

Best Questions:

We have an employee who keeps going to the ER with excessive vomiting due to cannabis use. Do they have to be excluded from work if we know it’s not contagious? 

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is a rare condition that occurs in daily, long-term users of marijuana and results in repeated and severe bouts of vomiting. While it’s not contagious, it’s often so severe that people seek emergency medical attention, so it’s not likely that the employee will be able to work through those symptoms. If your employee is regularly unable to work due to this condition, which stops when people stop using marijuana, it might be time to consult your HR and legal teams, as your workplace drug and alcohol and absence policies may come into play. 

Source: Cedars-Sinai

An employee reports years of GI symptoms without a diagnosis.  Can we ask for a doctor’s note?

Yes, especially if they work in a food service setting. Some people have non-infectious conditions that cause them to have regular vomiting or diarrhea, and with the same proper hand hygiene required of all employees can safely work in any business, even food handling. But employees themselves aren’t able to make that call - they need a medical professional to see them and review their symptoms. Specifically, we recommend requiring a note that clears them to work in a foodservice setting, if applicable for their role, since that prompts doctors to take a closer look at any GI symptoms before signing off on a note. 

Source: ZHH

What’s up with all these county fairs and outbreaks?  Should we advise employees to avoid them?

There have been repeated instances of human illness after contact with animals at agricultural fairs. Everything from bird flu, swine flu, and E. coli have been passed from animals to humans at county fairs and petting zoos in the US, with so many cases in Tennessee right now that it’s hard to keep the different outbreaks straight. Employees don’t need to skip the fair, but they do need to take extra precautions. Wash your hands immediately after touching farm animals or anything in their exhibit; don’t eat or drink in the animal exhibits (save it for outside); leave your kids’ strollers and toys outside and keep a close eye on kids near the animals to stop little hands from going straight to their mouths - and be sure to wash their hands immediately after, too. With those basic measures, your employees should be set to enjoy the fair safely!

Source: CDC, NY Times

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Best Read:

We found this an interesting read, though in our experience, fewer people may actually be abusing sick days. This issue is doubly complicated in the restaurant industry, where employees working sick cause nearly half of all foodborne illness outbreaks.

Bosses have a problem - people are actually using sick days - WSJ

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"Partnering with ZHH was a game changer. The transparency, visibility, technology, consistency, and time spent on supporting our business, it's as if all the stars aligned and it just made sense. We are big fans."
Natalya Harvey, Director of Risk Management, Cooper's Hawk Winery
“Zero Hour Health helps ensure the wellness of our team members and guests. The trusted service helps with industry relationships and is integral to our investment in food safety across the organization. “
Kerry Bridges, Vice President, Food Safety, Chipotle Mexican Grill
"When any potential health crisis arises, we turn to Zero Hour Health to help coordinate the clinical resources necessary- testing, confirming diagnoses and vaccinating employees.  Their relationships with health departments have proven critical to Texas Roadhouse.  ZHH is an invaluable partner to our brand and we can't imagine operating without them."
Patrick Sterling, Vice President of Legendary People, Texas Roadhouse

Let’s talk about what ZHH can do for your business!

Every business has unique needs, operations, and risks. So we can’t possibly cover all the ways we can support your business here. Schedule a time to chat with our team so we can get you a tailored proposal.
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