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When pandemic influenza is declared in the UK it would be a wise precaution to send home, at the earliest opportunity, any employees who have flu signs/symptoms since retaining sick employees in the confines of a workplace will increase the likelihood of further spread of the disease to the workforce. This general precaution applies in educational and similar establishments to people other than employees e.g. children/students/attendees who are unwell and are coughing and sneezing.
If you have employees who can safely work from home then this should be identified and encouraged. Opting for video-conferencing or tele-conferencing where possible instead of holding meetings is a practical precaution. Remote electronic working, where feasible, will reduce face-to-face meetings. Throughout the duration of a pandemic, it is likely that your workforce will be depleted. In these circumstances, it is important to ensure that appropriate training is given to any remaining workers who may be required to carry out unfamiliar tasks. You may also need to review risk assessments and apply the necessary control measures to take account of the reduced workforce and the remaining pool of skills available to maintain your business. Young workers and pregnant workers are particular categories of employee to be borne in mind in any temporary reorganisation of this sort and should not be substituted into inappropriate work. You may need to think about extra precautions if workers, who normally work in a group, are required to work alone or in a remote location – such a scenario might even need to be suspended until you have a sufficient compliment of staff. Certainly, the risks should be reassessed and appropriate control measures put in place.
Similarly, employee sickness absences may create a need for other employees, if willing, to work longer hours in order to keep your business going. In this event, you will need to comply with the requirements of the Working Time Regulations 1998 as amended to ensure appropriate length of daytime working hours, night shifts and rest breaks. ‘Young workers’ are a particular category of employee for whom you must ensure appropriate working hours. For further details see: The Working Time Regulations (1998) http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/workingtimedirective.htm Many people work in large open plan offices or workshops that are equipped with air conditioning systems. Although there may be some advantages in switching off an air conditioning system, the overall effect would be to create more static air, which may result in discomfort and ill health effects. The main advantage of air conditioning is that it has a dilution effect on stale/contaminated air and also provides a more comfortable environment overall. Therefore continue running any air conditioning system already provided for the workspace.1
Avian Flu symptoms seem to begin similarly to seasonal flu symptoms, with acute onset of fever (>38 C with coughing and/or shortness of breath), but part of the case definition also in use includes contact with sick or dying poultry. It is important to keep this latter point in mind. We have no evidence of avian flu being transmitted in the same fashion as seasonal flu.
More or less like “normal” (seasonal) flu. See the Department of Health website for more details www.dh.gov.uk 1
Start by really understanding two areas - the disease, its characteristics and its potential impact. Work through the logical impact - which is all about people being absent from work - on your company. Who would you miss in keeping the company going? Best start is to look for those with the key skills, especially specialists, vital to continued functioning. Remember that specialists can cover either technical skills (e.g. IT; production) or deep knowledge. Remember to look at all levels of the company not just junior and middle management. IT is important to look throughout the company as clerical and maintenance employees can get overlooked.
Look at your suppliers too - which of them is really critical to continued operation; are they prepared? Then work out how you would cope if those people weren’t there. Then complete the loop - is the strategy, which the Directors of the company intend to adopt actually going to be workable against the reality of the workplace and how it will be affected? Finally, factor in any areas where the Government may look to companies for help.
Making sure you know what the local and regional plans are and providing employees with information packet on influenza (could be easily developed and tailored for your business from WHO website information (www.who.int) Further, there is a WHO document under development that will specifically address this question. It should be available shortly.1
The Government is in the process of preparing more detailed information. Further, since countries/cities etc have different infrastructures it is difficult to develop global guidelines and must depend on fully developed country pandemic preparedness plans.
On the first, check your company’s strategy. Will it suggest that people should work from home, even if only a couple of days a week? How many people will it want to get in to work? In what jobs? For companies with several offices, will it suggest that staff work from offices closer to their home? 1
Options will depend on the answers to the above, and on the company’s particular circumstances. Can the essential people get in on foot, bike or car; or at times when public transport is less crowded? Or even stay in town to avoid travel altogether?
Final point – people with flu-like symptoms should not try to be heroes and struggle in. They should stay at home and get well.1
The obvious one - tell people loud and clear, including from senior managers, that they shouldn’t try to be heroes and struggle in to work if they have flu-like symptoms (that is, real flu-like symptoms, not just colds). If they do, they’re not helping themselves, and they’re helping spread the disease. Stay home and get well.
Follow recommended procedures to prevent transmission of respiratory diseases. (See links below) Prevent aerosols during sneezing, coughing etc, wash hands frequently with warm soapy water, and remain at home when experiencing flu symptoms.1
In NHS storage facilities. By health care professionals, on the basis of clinical need – i.e. to those who are ill. There may just possibly be some limited prophylactic use of anti-viral drugs in very early outbreaks in the UK to try to hold or slow the spread of the disease, if that seems as if it would work. But if the disease spreads widely, the drugs will go to those who are ill.1
Yes. FCO Consular Services will be there to help, as normal for British Nationals abroad. The Government will be publishing more information in this area soon. Clearly, the issues vary from country to country, depending on the circumstances, especially the quality of local health systems. But, with an estimated 15m Brits overseas, it’s going to be a huge job. So people are going to have to help themselves as well – not least by listening to and acting on FCO Travel Advice about travelling to affected areas.1
Companies need to do some maths here. Add up the following equation:
Add up A+B+C to get the peak rates of absence. But then factor in two variables:
Apply all this maths to your company. What’s the peak rate? Might it vary from regional office to regional office? Might it affect critical teams in particular (e.g. small specialist crews or office-based technical teams)?
The Government will be putting more on all this on websites shortly for those who want to go into the fine detail. 1
This is one of the non-medical interventions that WHO has been considering, however we have to see what the epidemic patterns of the outbreak follow to make specific recommendations as to whether controlling mass gatherings and school closures will be effective.
What the Government is doing at the moment is making sure we understand the pros and cons. How much would shutting schools slow the spread of the disease? What would be the effect on society? On worker-parents? On the ability of essential services to keep functioning (e.g. if nurses have to stay at home to look after their children). There are really quite significant downsides. And we are getting into a position so that the decision can be taken quickly and implemented smoothly, including managing the impact on learning. More information on all this will be published in the next few weeks. But the final decision can only be taken when we see what kind of virus we are dealing with. 1
Various items may be required dependant on your organisation and how you assess the risk the following is an example of PPE which might be considered:
Respirators
- these will provide some protection to airborne flu particles
Goggles - Use of goggles will provide protection to the eyes from airborne
viral particles.
Gloves
- These will provide barrier protection from the flu virus
Disposable
oversuits - These will protect clothing and help prevent cross contamination
from external environments
Disposable
Hair nets - These can be used to protect the hair and ears from airborne
particles
Disposable
Earplugs - These can be used protect the inner ear from exposure to
the virus.
Overshoes
- These can be used to prevent flu virus from being walked into the office
on shoes.
When you receive post during a pandemic you will need to be careful. Saliva used to stick down envelopes and stamps may be contaminated. Use of a letter opener with gloves, and opening the letter from the other seams other than the licked seam are sensible precautions.
Envelopes could also potentially be contaminated. Externally they might be wiped with a disinfectant wipes or sprayed with a disinfectant spray. Wait long enough for these to be effective before touching. Dispose of envelope immediately.
Letters themselves may also be contaminated, so proper protocols will be needed to handle them. Handling with gloves may help. Alternatively you might ask people and organisations you deal with to email you rather than post letters.
If you receive a parcel, you should follow all of the same precautions as with letters, but also ensure that any contents are properly disinfected before bringing them into the office.
When sending letters and parcels, you should take similar precautions for the recipient, i.e. do not lick stamps or envelopes use self-adhesive types or a wet sponge. You might also use email instead of letters.
All information supplied here is done so freely and Adveticus Limited takes no responsibility for the outcome if any or all of this advice is taken. All advice used from these pages is at your own risk.