August is often associated with back-to-school preparations and what for parents often includes a big push for classroom supplies, new clothes — and booster shots.

That also makes August a good time for employers to educate employees and their families about immunizations. In fact, August is National Immunization Awareness Month and offers an opportunity to identify ways your business can promote immunizations in the workplace.

It’s important to know the facts about immunizations and the benefits they provide not only to children, but also the entire population and to employee wellness.

One way employers can promote immunizations is to offer free or low-cost vaccination to employees — either by hosting on-site clinics or offering time off for employees to get immunized. Laws now require that health insurance plans cover most vaccinations. Conducting vaccine campaigns at work can help raise awareness among employees of the importance of immunizations. By providing information and opportunities for employees to get critical vaccinations, employers can reduce the potential for illness in the workplace, save on medical costs and improve productivity and employee satisfaction.

When an individual gets vaccinated, they’re often injected with a live — but weakened — virus that offers the body immunity to such diseases as chicken pox,  measles and mumps.  Other vaccinations,  such as those for polio, may also contain an inactivated or dead virus. When the body is exposed to the virus in the future, it will have the antibodies in place to fight the infection and onset of illness.

Immunizations keep more than just the individual healthy, though. Immunizations keep families, communities and workplaces healthy, too. When a high proportion of employees are vaccinated, they can help prevent the spread of disease within the workplace by establishing a barrier around those who aren’t vaccinated or have a compromised immune system. By offering employees vaccinations —  like the combined immunization for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis — in the workplace, employers prevent absenteeism that leads to lost productivity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate vaccine-preventable diseases account for $26.5 billion in costs annually in the United States among adults aged 50 years and older. On average, pertussis (whooping cough), a vaccine-preventable disease, costs more than $13,000 per hospitalization for adults and children. This doesn’t include such costs as follow-up appointments or medication — or time away from work and lost productivity.

It’s important that businesses monitor and take proactive steps to preventing infectious diseases in the workplace. Supplying information about the safety and effectiveness of immunizations and encouraging vaccinations offer ways to reduce the risks and costs associated with these diseases.

Prioritizing immunizations in the workplace offers a long-term and effective intervention that reduces reliance on behavior changes. Companies that make vaccinations available to their staffs deliver care where adults spend most of their time. But the benefits reach far beyond the confines of the workplace in improving the health of families and communities. Implementing workplace vaccinations and promotions has been shown to offer a relatively inexpensive and potentially cost-saving measure for a wide variety of employers across industries.