If your employees are sick with the flu at work, is it more productive to let them stay or send them home? The following information will help you prepare your workplace for the H1N1 flu (formerly known as swine flu), addressing pandemic flu planning, infection prevention, worker protection, training, sick leave policies, and telecommuting policies.
See the Additional Pandemic Planning Resources section at the end of this article for additional information about how to prepare for H1N1 flu at your workplace.
H1N1 (Swine) Flu Impact in the Workplace
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), H1N1 flu infection is anticipated in the workplace not only in healthcare settings, but also in general work settings. Because so many people in so many places could become seriously ill at the same time, impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery. Employers may experience significant employee absences, changes in patterns of commerce, and interrupted supply and delivery schedules.
According to the federal Food and Drug Administration, employers collectively lose about 15 million workdays each year to the common cold and flu, rivaling the total 17.6 million lost workdays for serious injuries and illnesses reported to federal OSHA by private businesses in a recent year. Additional workdays are lost when employees have to leave work to care for a sick child.
Is It a Cold, the Seasonal Flu, or the H1N1 (Swine) Flu?
Many people use the terms “cold” and “flu” interchangeably. Though both are respiratory illnesses, their symptoms are different. Medical testing is the only conclusive way to determine if someone has seasonal flu or the H1N1 flu.
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Is It a Cold, the Seasonal Flu, or the H1N1 (Swine) Flu?
How H1N1 (Swine) and Other Flu Viruses Spread
H1N1 and other flu viruses spread from person to person when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or touches a surface that is subsequently touched by another person. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people infected with the flu are most contagious almost immediately after infection (a day before symptoms develop) and up to 7 days after symptoms initially appeared.
Pandemic Flu Planning
The CDC, OSHA, Department of Homeland Security, and emergency planning experts agree that business planning for pandemic flu is critical. Organizations that provide critical infrastructure services such as power and telecommunications also have a special responsibility to plan for continued operation in a crisis and should plan accordingly. As with any catastrophe, having a written contingency plan for disruptions caused by a pandemic flu is essential.
Develop a written pandemic flu plan. A written pandemic flu plan should contain voluntary company actions to reduce the impact on operations from the effects of a flu outbreak, and to recover from a major business disruption caused by a pandemic flu. It is focused on the recovery of business operations after the immediate disrupting event has passed, or for dealing with a continuous disruption.
You may want to set a threshold whereby the plan will be automatically implemented. It may be a directive from a federal or state agency, or when a set percentage of employees absent due to the flu is reached.
Test the plan. Conduct a test of as many sections of the plan as possible when it is complete. Otherwise, the likelihood of failures increases greatly in case of actual, but unprepared, execution of the plan. It is best to test plan procedures before the onset of flu season.
There are pandemic planning resources available. See the Pandemic Planning Resources section of this article for guidance for employers to help them develop a plan.
Best Practices to Prevent Flu Infection
According to the CDC, the single best way to prevent seasonal flu and H1N1 flu is to get vaccinated. The 2009 seasonal flu vaccine will not prevent infection by the H1N1 flu. Therefore, the CDC recommends that people get vaccinated twice--once for the seasonal flu and once for the H1N1 flu.
Flu prevention practices. The CDC also recommends that people adopt the following 6 healthy habits to prevent the spread of the flu and common cold:
- Avoid close contact.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.
- Stay home when you are sick. If possible, stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness. The CDC recommends that an infected person stay home for at least 24 hours after his or her fever is gone except to get medical care or other necessities.
- Cover your mouth and nose. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick. Then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean your hands. Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Practice other good health habits. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.
Best Practices for Healthcare Workers
For healthcare-related work activities that involve contact with people who have flu-like illness, including escorting such a person to or from a doctor's office or hospital, the following safe practices are recommended:
- Try to maintain a distance of 6 feet or more from the ill person.
- Keep interactions with ill persons as brief as possible.
- The ill person should be asked to follow good cough etiquette and hand hygiene and to wear a face mask, if able (and one is available).
- Workers at increased risk of severe illness from influenza infection should avoid people with the flu, possibly by temporary reassignment.
- Where workers cannot avoid close contact with persons with flu-like illness, some workers may choose to wear an N95-rated respirator on a voluntary basis.
Respiratory Protection for Workers
Both the US Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services are encouraging employers to purchase and stockpile face masks and respirators in advance of influenza pandemic because respirator manufacturing capacity at the time of an outbreak would not meet the expected demand for respiratory protection devices during the pandemic.
Go to Flu Respiratory Protection for Workers for more information.
Communication and Training
Employee training. Providing accurate, up-to-date information about the risks of the disease reduces tension among employees and may help you avoid legal issues. You may want to place links to CDC or other resources on your company intranet. Consider distributing information or holding programs regarding your pandemic and emergency policies.
Supervisor training. Focus efforts on educating and training supervisors so they do not overreact to flu issues with employees and so they know measures needed in your workplace to prevent the spread of the disease. You will want to consider training your supervisors regarding their obligations under state and federal laws.
See the Pandemic Planning Resources section of this article for more information about educating your employees.
Pandemic Flu Planning: Sick Leave Policies
There is no federal law requiring employers to provide employees paid sick leave for employees absent because of a non-job-related illness such as the cold or flu, but most employers do provide it as important employee benefits.
Go to Sick Leave and Telecommuting Policies for more information.
Pandemic Flu Planning: Telecommuting Policies
Many employers are contemplating temporary telecommuting arrangements as part of emergency planning for pandemic flu when employees are unable, or refuse to, come to work.
Go to Sick Leave and Telecommuting Policies for more information.
Additional Pandemic Planning Resources