1

In the same way that we (potentially) close questions "asking for legal advice," I am wondering if we should have a canonical response to questions that essentially ask for health advice, or health policy advice. This is the question that caused me to wonder this:

Should vending machines be turned off until the Coronavirus outbreak is over?

On the one hand, this is a workplace issue in the sense that it seems to essentially be asking a question about workplace policy. That seems to make it on topic, and potentially answerable.

On the other hand, similar to how it can be damaging to seek legal advice from strangers on the internet, I'm wondering if people think the same danger applies here. In other words, is it dangerous (risky?) to seek health policy advice from strangers on the internet? Should questions like this be redirected with a generic answer in some way (i.e. "follow the guidelines of the CDC or equivalent in your jurisdiction")?

| |
  • 1
    FWIW, we have a health tag – DarkCygnus♦ Mar 17 at 17:15
  • 1
    We should not be handing out medical advice. Still, there are some questions that an experienced HR rep, manager, or employee could answer along these lines - just like some legal questions. We already close far too many questions. Let's try to treat each one individually, and answer what we can. – Joe Strazzere Mar 17 at 19:29
  • 1
    Office management questions are often considered on-topic here but they more usually relate to managing human behaviour in a workplace and everything around that. Medical advice is well beyond our scope and realm of experience so I'd consider it simply off-topic. I feel like "How do I manage impact of COVID-19 measures on our team?" is fine while "Which measures should I take?" is not. – Lilienthal♦ Mar 18 at 9:26

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .