Swine flu
Steps to prepare your business
As the spread of the swine flu virus accelerates, business readiness is growing in importance. Here are some steps you can take to protect your employees and ensure your business is prepared.
1. Improve workplace hygiene
The more your employees know about how to prevent infection, the more resilient your business will be. To help minimise the risk of spreading the disease you could consider providing the following and encouraging their usage:
- Antiseptic hand gel dispensers for each member of staff or in key locations such as the kitchen and/or reception areas. Soap and water is perfectly effective but these dispensers may be more convenient.
- Tissues (these should be used once and disposed of promptly).
- Antiseptic wipes to keep all common work areas germ-free including telephones, keyboards, door handles and work surfaces.
Other current guidance regarding hygiene includes:
- Put signs up to remind employees and visitors of their responsibilities to maintain personal hygiene.
- Continue running air conditioning systems as normal if provided.
2. Put contingency plans in place
The main challenge businesses face is the likelihood of high levels of staff absence. To reduce the impact of potential problems, businesses should consider the following:
- Identify the basic requirements of the business and any critical activities that must be maintained.
- Create a list of the transferable skills of each employee and consider who could be retrained or redeployed in the event of staff absence.
- Carry out any required training which could be as simple as one staff member showing another how to do a particular element of their job.
- Ensure IT systems can cope with high numbers of employees working from home.
- Encourage methods of communication that reduce face-to-face contact.
- Ask your suppliers about what plans they have in place to cope with reduced staff numbers.
Read our guide about crisis management and business continuity planning
3. Manage employee absence
There could be a number of reasons for increased staff absence during an influenza pandemic. These could include staff who are:
- Ill with flu, or ill for other reasons.
- Caring for others who are ill.
- Absent due to fear/avoidance of infection.
Employers should promote an environment in which staff who become unwell feel they are able to stay at home until they are better, and actively advise employees to do so.
It is important that you consider the procedures you have in place to manage the potential increase in absences and communicate your position to employees. These include:
- Advising employees to visit the Directgov site for the latest medical advice and details of who to contact if they have any symptoms. - Opens in a new window
- Confirming the process for calling in sick. Who should employees notify? Should they call in each day they are sick?
- Considering how to treat 'worried well' employees who are anxious about the risks of coming to work. The legal position is that employees are not entitled to refuse to come to work on the basis of fear alone. Providing information about the facts surrounding swine flu and promoting good hygiene should help allay any fear.
- Using existing technology to encourage employees to work from home, where possible.
4. Communicate with your employees
Ensure there is an effective flow of information to employees, suppliers and customers (where appropriate) regarding any changes in working practices and the latest medical advice. Creating and circulating a list of emergency contact details for key staff could be of use. Ensure you have employee permission to share their details.
All of the suggestions detailed here require careful implementation, and it may be necessary to revise or add to the existing employment policies you have in place including:
- Absence and sickness.
- Flexible working.
- Health and safety.
Read our guide about implementing employment policies
