Preparing for a Flu Pandemic

How to begin preparing your workplace for a flu emergency

By Kerry McCoy, Partner, HRxpress

While predictions of a widespread flu come and go, it’s wise to have a plan in place for how you will handle the possibility of business interruption caused by excessive employee absences. Some estimates are that a flu pandemic could last for more than a month. Some ways that a flu pandemic could affect your workplace are:

Employee absences because of own illness or because of family illness, or because schools are closed
Employee stress, anxiety, and/or distraction
Illness brought into the workplace
Absences in client companies, or in your supplier’s companies, making it hard to do business or get materials
Absences in service companies (e.g., gas stations)
Interruption of business travel
Stress on insurance systems resulting in delays in claim processing
Shortage of supplies, for example, medicines and bottled water

Assign a planner and a deadline

Determine who specifically will head the effort to coordinate the contingency planning, and give that person the resources and authority to get it done.
Try: The U.S. Department of Health and Human services has a checklist that the planner can use to begin the process. I can't get the link to work so go to www.pandemicflu.gov and hit the Business Planing tab. The National Capital Region Disability Preparedness Initiative offers information on the special needs of employees with disabilities during an emergency.

Do a business vulnerability assessment

Determine where your greatest vulnerabilities are in case of widespread illness and absences so that you are addressing your highest priorities first. What will most impede your ability to deliver products or services? For example, if your business relies heavily on your computer network and ability to communicate via email, this will be a critical area for an emergency plan. Remember vital services, payroll processing for example.
Try: Tenable's Nessus software has a good vulnerability scanner that you can adapt for your own assessment needs.

Determine what policies will be affected

Examine your sick leave, vacation leave, and disability policies. Will you strictly administer them in case of widespread and extended absences, or are you willing to modify them in an emergency? If you have 50 or more employees, they may be eligible for family leave under FMLA. Determine if any of your employees can work at home. Do you have a program, policies and equipment to cover this?
Try: For designing a telecommuting plan, I like the University of San Francisco model.

Make a plan to prevent or reduce contagion

Educate your employees on how to take care of themselves and how to prevent the spread of germs. Have sanitation supplies on hand, for example, antibacterial gel, as well as health information.
Try: The CDC has useful information and instructions on how to mitigate contagion in the workplace. They also have downloadable posters. The Center for Disease Control has good hand washing instructions.

Develop a communication bank

Centralize the information that you are going to need and keep it up to date. You will want contact information accessible and up to date, for example, management and employee addresses and phone numbers, health and disability information and forms, supplier and client contact information, and contact information for health facilities.
Try: For general facts about general flu and avian flu, the Center for Disease Control has plenty of information that can be used for communication. For local information, you’ll want to find the Public Health Department in your specific city or area. You can purchase books on crisis communication from the Rothstein Catalog.