Obama declared an H1N1 state of emergency this week. Does your company have a health scare plan?

We have developed a contingency plan. In the event of an outbreak either with our employees or their children we developed a more flexible policy regarding absences and also we have allowed individuals to work from home if their position allows it.

I actually just wrote an article on this very topic, since it is close to my heart. I manage a staff of 7 and one came in last week with a fever. I sent him home and he came back the next day with the same thing. Again I sent him home. I explained that with a fever you are extremely contagious, whatever it is you have, and you will affect productivity more by getting others sick. It is my wish that companies were more flexible with telecommuting, if your position allows for that.

"It seems every few years there is a new killer virus on the horizon. In the 1990’s it was the Ebola Virus. In 2007 it was the Avian Influenza (Bird Flu). And in 2008 it was the H1N1 Influenza, Swine Flu. Approximately 36,000 people in the U.S. die from flu annually. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) experts believe the next flu season could be far worse. They are projecting that twice the number of people who typically get sick during the normal flu season may contract swine flu, caused by the H1N1 virus....." click on link to rest of article: http://www.lawfirms.com/pig-flu-employment.html

Our company has provided prevention tools and educated our employees on the CDC's recommended timeframe for staying home if they fall ill. We've paid for flu shots and given out hand sanitizer and reminded folks of our sick policies, but to be honest, I don't plan to read any more of the spam messages I get regarding developing a pandemic plan. I realize that this flu, if it strikes the wrong person with a pre-existing health condition, could be devastating to that individual if not deadly. But to expect that those who are hit by it will be bedridden for long periods of time, is a but much. And that seems to be what these contingency plans are all about. If large amounts of your employees are out for a lengthy period of time, what will you do? I personally feel like we've educated, we've supplied our employees with tools to help prevent it, to go beyond that is just not worth the time and effort in this economy when I am the only HR person and have a lot of other tasks at hand which are inevitable (preparing managers for upcoming performance reviews, developing compensation strategies, etc.). A mass outbreak of swine flu isn't inevitable...much as the media likes to disagree.

I've been writing and counseling companies on this issue for over a year, and my guidance remains the same today. Take a practical approach but be aware that this has the potential to impact your business in ways few have planned effectively to address.

My current firm has an H1N1 response protocol, which we alerted in August. With the World Health Organization having made a Stage 6 announcement, we have now implemented most of the elements of that plan. It is not disruptive to normal business, most of our clients are only minimally aware of what we are doing, and it will enable us to stay fully capable, regardless of the number of staff we may have out at any particular time. Those are really the core tenets of success for most of us without a large public-facing presence.

I would be glad to share the parts of our plan and the assessments around it that are not proprietary.

A couple notes based on some of the comments thus far:
-H1N1 does not require that the carrier be symptomatic for the virus to be passed between people. That is, they may not look or feel ill and still can be contagious.
-A plan that addresses flexible work at home or childcare needs is well advised. Several school districts across the country have already closed for brief periods because of influenza outbreaks. Your employee may not be sick, but they may need to be the caregiver for an ill child.
-This flu season is demonstrating what we saw last year; H1N1 strikes young people much more severely than others. (I won't bore anyone with the science behind that one, but it is distinctly true.)

More available if anyone wants it.

Our firm has also taken up the task of alerting employers to the potential risks we all face from a potential H1N1 pandemic. Our most recent post in HR Outsourcing Solutions highlights some key findings and steps businesses should take to prepare.

http://employers-rx.com/hr-outsourcing-solutions/2009/10/14/businesses-should...

In short, if you can get a flu shot, do so NOW. Make them available to all of your employees. Many pharmacies and clinics in your community offer them for low or no cost. High risk individuals ie: children, pregnant women, people with respiratory and immunity problems should find locations that have the H1N1 vaccine. Most importantly, if you or your kids feel sick ... stay home.

Practically the idea of having a plan in place for the onset of the plague is going to be hard work. A lot depends on the nature of your business as to whether you can a.) afford to put one in place and b.) need to put one in place.

For many large one site businesses if a pandemic/epidemic takes out 80% of your staff, you are just going to have to muddle through, and it is likely that your customers (as long as you are honest with them) will be patient and understanding about it.

For those with off-site capacity it is easier to look at diverting parts of your business elsewhere for a temporary period, in the hope that whatever it is doesn't strike there.

Of course employers with the vision and foresight to have enabled large amounts of home working will be better protected in the event of a large outbreak.

Though the best of plans would enable overseas support in the case of total disaster, the truth is this is more cost than most businesses can bear.

It is also worth noting that H1N1 and the Obama response to it, are mainly fear factor in the public's minds and nothing more. To date it has been slightly less fatal than any other flu, and the media and the WHO have whipped up a frenzy of panic that is not justified by the evidence we have now.

The high death rates amongst poor Mexicans in the initial outbreak were due to the poverty in which the victims lived. A lack of efficient healthcare combined with a poor diet and hard life will generally yield a higher mortality rate than an outbreak in say the UK, where the mortality rate per infection has been very low for an influenze outbreak.

Agree that sick people should stay at home though, but it is wrong to assume that when someone is severely ill that they are most contagious, it is actually the period running up to that where they are most contagious. So it's when the first indication they are coming down with a flu/cold appears that they should be sent home not when they are running a fever and collapsing at their desks.

Agree that flu jabs can't hurt, but there is no guarantee of effectiveness as flu mutates with monotonous regularity. Tamiflu is also not 100% efficient in combatting the disease but may reduce the length of time that someone is ill and lessen the symptoms.

Mass outbreaks of the disease are inevitable, and have already occurred round the globe, they just aren't the major issue (so far) that was predicted from a tiny amount of data in the initial outbreak.

In New Zealand we have the following guidelines for businesses

http://www.dol.govt.nz/PDFs/pandemic-practical-quide.pdf

Cheers,
Crispin