Is your business prepared?

The case for a business pandemic plan is strong in the midst of what has become the world’s first pandemic in 40 years. In a moderately severe pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada predicts that between 15% and 35% of Canadians could become ill, 34,000 to 138,000 individuals may need to be hospitalized, and between 11,000 and 58,000 deaths could occur.

The agency says businesses should plan for one-third to one-half of their workers being absent for about two weeks at the height of a severe pandemic, which could last about eight weeks.

Pandemic planning and communication
Now that we have established that the H1N1 pandemic could have a serious impact on your workforce, what can you do to help prevent the spread of the virus within your workforce? It is all in the planning. Planning for a pandemic will support your employees and strengthen your corporate reputation with clients and business partners.

There are three stages of intervention for pandemic planning and communication:
1. Pre-pandemic
2. Pandemic
3. Post-pandemic

Pre-pandemic stage
We recommend your company develop corporate policies and procedures to create awareness among your employees regarding the pandemic and methods to prevent the spread of any virus. You do not need to reinvent the wheel. Public health units will share their pandemic plan with the public. Once you identify your company’s fundamental needs, devise your plan.

The plan should be tested more than once to ensure all of the “wrinkles” have been ironed out before heading into the actual pandemic stage to ensure a smooth transition and smooth operation. It will be helpful to inform your clients, suppliers and employees of the testing stage, especially if there are several wrinkles in the plan.

Pandemic stage
Communication to your employees regarding the status of H1N1, your local community and ongoing operational aspects of your organization will be essential, especially if it becomes necessary to have employees work from outside of the office. It is during this stage that the most aggressive methods of control will be put into place. The following options are available to help you maintain a healthy and productive workforce:

1) Social distancing measures:
These measures can significantly limit the spread of infection and are fairly easy to implement (i.e., cancelling face-to-face meetings and client functions). These measures, however, will disrupt business practices and require strict compliance to be effective.

2) Teleworking:
With today’s technology, it is easier than ever to have employees work from a remote location (i.e., home) in order to limit contact and the spread of infection. This measure requires specific IT capabilities and infrastructure resources.

3) Infection control and education:
Proper hand washing and coughing/sneezing etiquette should be encouraged at all times. Education regarding these principles should also be provided as proper hygiene has been shown to significantly reduce the spread of infection during a pandemic. Increasing the cleaning of high-touch areas (i.e., doorknobs, photocopier buttons) may also assist in mitigating the contamination of employees.

4) Communication:
Updates on your company website, mass internal emails or intranet bulletins will help ensure that your employees and clients feel connected.

5) Antivirals:
Outside of the workplace, infected employees may be prescribed an antiviral, the main one being Tamiflu. As an employer, it’s important to know that there have been some rare Tamiflu-resistant strains of H1N1 flu – one of them in Quebec. So we recommend you take this into consideration when developing your pandemic plan. Currently, the Public Health Agency of Canada does not recommend that family members and other close contacts of people who are sick with the H1N1 flu virus take antivirals as a preventative measure.

6) Vaccines:
The H1N1 vaccine was released in October in Canada. While it was initially made available only to certain groups, such as pregnant women and those with chronic conditions, many areas of Canada are now offering the vaccine to the broader population.

Post-pandemic stage
This stage focuses on communicating updates to employees, clients and business partners, in addition to providing an assessment of your status following the pandemic.

Regardless of what measures you take in terms of managing the pandemic threat in your workplace, it is essential that communication between all stakeholders and employee education are maintained in order to ensure that everyone is ready and the impact is minimized.

Risk factors for flu-related complications:

• Pregnancy: Pregnant women who get H1N1 flu are at least four times as likely to be hospitalized as other people with the virus, says a study from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
• Obesity
• Existing cardiovascular disease
• Respiratory disease
• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Asthma and other forms of respiratory disease

Health officials recommend that people follow these preventive measures:

• Wash your hands frequently with warm, soapy water and use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available;
• Cough and sneeze into your arm;
• Keep common surfaces clean and disinfected; and
• Stay home if sick, unless directed to seek medical care.

Susan Novo is manager of health and disability services with Cowan Insurance Group.

To comment on this story, contact us.