Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Swine Flu

Many clients have been asking us what are the employer’s responsibilities regarding the protection of employees from contracting swine flu in the workplace.

 

Essentially your responsibilities are the same no matter what the illness. If an employee shows symptoms of being unwell, whether or not that may be due to swine flu, you should advise the employee to seek medical advice. If the illness is contagious, as is swine flu, you should advise the employee to remain at home until they are free of the virus and fit to resume work.

 

It is likely that pandemic flu will spread from person to person by close contact. Some examples of how it can spread are:

 

• Large droplets from coughing and/or sneezing by an infected person within a short distance of someone
• Touching or shaking the hand of an infected person and then touching your mouth, eyes or nose without washing your hands
• Touching surfaces or objects that have become contaminated with the flu virus and then touching your mouth, eyes r nose without washing your hands first.

 

You do have a general duty under Health & Safety Law to protect employees (in this case from each other).

 

The HSE recommends the following:

 

Raise awareness among staff of the signs of flu symptoms and the need to self isolate (stay at home).

 

Promote an environment in which staff who become unwell feel that they can go home and stay at home until they are well.

 

Consider alternatives to direct meetings and visits (i.e. phone or video conferencing).

 

Promote the use of proper hand hygiene before entering premises or handling goods. When handling documents or money, staff should be encouraged to minimize contact with their mouth, eye and nose until their hands have been cleaned.

 

Where practicable, handrubs (microbicidal handrubs, particularly alcohol-based) could be made available at entrances to premises which are used by customers or visitors.

Encourage staff the importance of respiratory etiquette and to cover their mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and to dispose of tissues appropriately ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’.

 

Surfaces should be cleaned frequently with the usual cleaning materials.

 

Where practicable, direct contact with persons exhibiting flu-like symptoms should be avoided and, where possible, a distance of more than 1 metre should be kept between staff and your customers/visitors.

 

Consider measures to reduce the frequency of interactions, i.e. staggering lunch breaks or reducing the number of people in enclosed places.

 

Consider the use of home working for those staff for whom this would be a practical option.

 

At the moment the advice is to stay at home and (if in England) contact the Swine Flu helpline or go online at www.direct.gov.uk/swineflu).

 

People in Wales and Scotland can also get information from the web site but current advice is to stay at home and contact their GP.

 

 

 

 

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