Planning for a Pandemic

Swine flu has made its impact on the global community.  It has caused many to become ill and unfortunately some have died.  Pandemics are unpredictable and inevitable.  Pandemics have a global and cross-sector impact.  

There are many action steps workplaces can put in place to minimize the spread of infectious diseases.

By planning for a pandemic you will be supporting your employees by offering them protection, and in turn limiting potential liability, increase trust and loyalty from staff members, and reduce the rate of illness, absenteeism, and death.  


There are a number of interventions that can be considered when addressing and planning for a pandemic.

1)  Vaccines:  A vaccine specific to the pandemic is understood to be the most effective way of controlling the spread of an infectious disease, however, it is likely that there will be a delay because of the need to identify the pandemic strain and produce the vaccine for much of the population.  An annual pandemic intervention that most workplaces should take is encouraging flu vaccination.  This can decrease the risk of your workplace being hit with the flu.  

2)   Antivirals:  “In the absence of an effective vaccine at the outset of a pandemic, many experts believe that antivirals will be an important component of our response.”  Governments and companies in the private sector around the world have chosen to stockpile these drugs in case of a pandemic.  However, stockpiling in a corporate setting involves a great deal of resources and financial cost when it comes to the acquisition, distribution and dispensing of the drugs.  Therefore, organizations must understand the need to ensure that such a program involves the oversight and direction of a physician, along with the support of other health care resources.       

3)  Social Distancing Measures:  Social distancing are measures that are taken like isolation, quarantine, and the cancellation of public gatherings, school closure or any other strategy that limits contact between people.  This strategy is a fairly easy one to put into place, and has shown potential for limiting the spread of infection, especially in the workplace.  The downside of this strategy is that it will disrupt business practices.  It will also require that your employees follow directions in order for this strategy to work effectively.

4)  Telecommuting:  Telecommuting involves a range of critical infrastructure resources and IT requirements so that work is done at a distance-based facility (i.e. from home) so that human contact can be limited, and infectious diseases will not be spread in the workplace.  Employers should also consider the fact that employee homes will not be any less infectious, there are people coming into face-to-face contact in a closed environment (i.e. spouses, children)

5)  Infection Control and Education:  Handwashing and respiratory hygiene (i.e. cough etiquette) should be strongly encouraged in the workplace at all times.  Research has shown that proper hand hygiene can significantly reduce upper respiratory infections.  Proper handwashing can significantly reduce the spread of infection during a pandemic.  Hand hygiene stations should be made available and that employees should be knowledgable about proper hand hygiene.  

6)  N95 Respirators and Masks:  The researching surrounding the effectiveness of face masks is limited.  One study that was done in Beijing and Hong Kong showed that during the SARS epidemic, wearing masks in public was independently associated with protection from the virus.    The problems with face masks are employees need to be educated on them and fit-testing requirements for respirator use, as well as stockpiling and storage of them.

There are a few other steps that organizations can take to plan and prepare for a pandemic:
-Identify your company’s fundamental needs and gaps to help devise a basic pandemic plan.
-Plan and test your strategy’s components, such as essential services, communications, telecommuting and emergency response measures.  
-Examine other local plans and get assistance from you local public health unit to make sure you know how the pandemic response will take shape and how you can play a supporting role.  

One of the most important factors to remember in planning and preparing for a pandemic is that overall awareness is crucial in an employee’s perception of threat.  Therefore, there needs to be constant communication between stakeholders and ongoing employee education so that everyone is ready.  

Source:

Saunders,M. & Innes, K.  (2009).  Planning for a pandemic.  In Working Well.  June/July issue, pp. 15-16.  

Posted by: suhujitha on 2009-06-05 10:46:07

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