H1N1, Swine Flu, Pandemic – What does an employer do?
With all of the news out there involving the current world news…
Here are some reasonable steps to prepare for a pandemic:
Designate one person as the office contact
If the WHO (World Health Organization) increases the health risk level to 6 (pandemic), you should be ready to do telecommuting.
Plan to have your employee’s notify you if they are traveling to any of the high risk areas (locally or abroad).
Restrict employee travel to high risk areas.
Be sensitive to employees with children.
OSHA (The Occupational Safety and Health Act) prevents employers from retaliating against employees who refuse to work if they reasonably believe they would be in danger at work.
Have a policy or an emergency plan in place.
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The Swine Flu is sure getting a lot of attention in the media these days. No one knows for sure how widespread the virus will be, but looking at early statistics, the entire planet might be affected. Even though it has not turned into a pandemic as of now, it certainly has to potential to do so. The best way to minimize the effects of the Swine Flu is to prepare ahead of time. Simple basic hygiene is recommended to start with, then possibly other precautions can be carried out. If we know ahead of time about a possible disaster or pandemic, when it finally arrives, we will be in a better frame of mind to handle the problem, and tackle it head on.
Ken @ Swine Flu Protection
Very good advice. Though encouragingly, it seems there may be a vaccine by November or possibly even before. I don’t know how good it’ll be and whether it will actually happen, but I find this very encouraging. Hopefully we really were over-worrying.
Tom @ Symptoms of Swine Flu
Try to develop a contingency plan and invest in ways to do work remotely through Citrix and similar technologies.
…and invest in buying a box load of masks and sanitizer.
Kristin@h1n1