Occupational health & safety in the workplace - avoiding bloodsucking creatures
Working at home in summer is fabulous - I get to wear shorts, t-shirts and a ponytail most of the time.
There's just one teeny, tiny problem which the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) team need to overcome: the vampires.
Not that kind, this kind.
And with me in shorts and t-shirt, there's such a menu for these little beasts to feast on.
Am I worried about malaria?
Nope, not in Joburg.
I'm just irritated with itching all the time.
You'd think I'd be honoured
Their subsonic team cry goes out to the mozzie fields around noon, and they choose a body part to attack before I even see one of the little beasties hovering around me. While they have a predilection for my ankles, they won't eschew chewing my knees, knuckles or elbows if they get a chance. They just love that English Type A blood. I must be known as a Michelin star experience in the Mozzie Zomato app. I wonder if I get a 5-star rating all around?
I'll pass on the honours, thank you ever so much.
My foolproof defense system
It's pretty basic, but the humble Tabard candle does a mighty fine job keeping the bloodsuckers at bay at my desk.
Coupled with one of these liquid repellent burners, I stand a fighting chance.
ACK! It's empty. I'm doomed.
And I know I'll be total mozzie bait as soon as I leave the room.
OHS lesson of the day
So hey, let's stay safe out there. Less itchin', less scritchin'!
Plenty of mosquitoes were harmed in the days leading up to this post
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We have them here - in swarms. Mercifully not during the day, but at night. Being dive-bombed by a mozzie at 2am - NO. Even with the Tabard and the plug-in thingy.... The Husband is bitten less than I. Not fair!
It seems the little beasts have a thing for us girls - we must have more attractive blood. What a pain for you! I wouldn't survive the night without the electric liquid thingy. And nets? 🤣🤣 They just get inside them.
Hahaha! Definitely not nets - if you have to get up in the night, as I do, then the !@#%## creatures just fly in behind your back! Besides making me feel claustrophobic, our bedroom is in the loft space, so finding a way of suspending them is a challenge. We survive. Sigh..... At least, as you say, NO MALARIA. And that may be, with climate change, a "yet" scenario.... Sigh... again
Good point on malaria not yet....
Hopefully not in my lifetime...
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👍🏽
Actually, one useful tip I forgot to mention: a fan. Even on low, not necessarily directed at you or oscillating, does keep them at bay...
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You're right - it does. That's what we use in the living room...along with a citronella candle 😉😏
I once forgot my light on in the bungalow in Maun Those mozzies were extreme! I was bitten all over. A Mozzie-net is a must when in Africa and thinking about it, why not here... it's like camping out and they cannot get to you.
Oh, I can relate! The worst mozzie cloud I had to sleep through was on Pemba Island, the smaller island north of Unguja in Zanzibar. The air was so thick with them that like you, I was bitten all over. I had a net but the only thing that saved me from being carried away by the swarm was a fan set on "aircraft engine". Didn't sleep much that night! We're so lucky that our Joburg mozzies are properly confused by liquid electric thingy, at least at night. During the day, even the mornings, it's a free-for-all, all-you-can-suck buffet for them.
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