Most cases of influenza A (H1N1) reported

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1 Executive Action May 2009 H1N1 Influenza Preparing Your Organization for a Pandemic At a Glance Organizations should act now to prepare for the next wave of the H1N1 outbreak should one occur. The World Health Organization warns that time is short to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of any mitigation measures. Background Most cases of influenza A (H1N1) reported so far in Canada have been mild. Health agencies are comparing the current severity of the outbreak to that of our normal flu season. However, organizations are justified in feeling concerned and should have plans in place to deal with a more serious pandemic that may occur in the near future. Absenteeism and its effect on business continuity is the key impact on employers during a pandemic. When developing pandemic preparedness plans, organizations should review sick leave policies and encourage good hygiene practices. It is important to note that pandemics usually occur in waves. Given the concerns expressed by our member organizations, The Conference Board of Canada has prepared this briefing to synthesize the research we have done in the area of organizational pandemic preparedness in recent years and to provide members with up-todate resources. Human Resource Management

2 2 H1N1 Influenza May 2009 The Conference Board research on pandemic preparedness includes our survey-based report released in 2006, A State of Unpreparedness: Canadian Organizations Readiness for a Pandemic. Further knowledge was gathered through our three-year Pandemic Preparedness Working Group (PPWG), which brought together industry leaders with pandemic and emergency preparedness experts. during the pandemic (expected to last 12 to 18 months). They suggested that up to 30 per cent of the workforce might be absent at the height of the pandemic. Although most cases of H1N1 in Canada have been quite mild so far, those affected have required rest and isolation. If the virus spreads at an increased rate or mutates to become more severe, absenteeism rates could hit those marks. The H1N1 outbreak continues to spread across Canada. Although the spread of the virus appears to have peaked in Mexico, it is important to note that pandemics usually occur in waves. Organizations should act now to be prepared for the next wave, should one occur. The World Health Organization (WHO) is maintaining its Phase 5 pandemic alert level, which it calls a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short. 1 Canada s response to this alert is coordinated by the federal Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). It has reiterated the common practices people should employ to avoid contracting the influenza virus, focusing on good hygiene. 2 How a Pandemic Affects Businesses The key impact on employers in a pandemic is absenteeism and its effect on business continuity. In a presentation to the Conference Board s PPWG in 2006, representatives from the Public Health Agency of Canada laid out their working assumptions for a future hypothetical pandemic. The major planning assumption used by PHAC, and supported by members of the PPWG, was that up to 50 per cent of employees would be absent at one point or another 1 World Health Organization, Current WHO Phase of Pandemic Alert [online]. Website content. Geneva: WHO [cited May 6, 2009]. 2 Public Health Agency of Canada, H1N1 Flu Virus (Human Swine Flu): Frequently Asked Questions How to Protect Yourself [online]. Website content. Ottawa: PHAC [cited May 6, 2009]. gc.ca/alert-alerte/swine-porcine/faq_rg_swine-eng.php#faq5. The key impact on employers in a pandemic is absenteeism and its effect on business continuity. Considerations for Employers Based on Conference Board of Canada research, we recommend that organizations consider the following three topics in their plans to deal with a pandemic: Sick Leave There are four groups of employees that companies need to consider in terms of absenteeism during a pandemic: 1. Employees showing symptoms of illness who want to stay home. These employees should be covered by a company s normal sick leave policy. Organizations should review their policies to ensure that they are up-to-date and are structured to deal with expected absenteeism rates. 2. Employees not showing symptoms but unwilling to come to work. Employees, particularly those who deal with the public, may feel uncomfortable at work during the pandemic. All efforts should be made to ensure that employees feel safe in their work environment. Working from home may be a solution for some. Companies should examine their policies and decide how to accommodate employees who do not feel secure in their normal work environment during a pandemic. 3. Employees absent to care for family members. Healthy employees with family members who are ill may need to take time off to care for them. Those with mild cases of infection should be cared for at home; government agencies emphasize the need to avoid overtaxing the health-care system in a period of pandemic. Organizations should take this into consideration when reviewing company policies.

3 The Conference Board of Canada. All rights reserved. Please contact cboc.ca/ip with questions or concerns about the use of this material. The Conference Board of Canada 3 4. Employees showing symptoms who want to come to work. Some employees, particularly those with hourly wages, may want to continue working even though they are showing symptoms of illness during a pandemic. These individuals risk spreading the illness further in the workplace and to the public. PHAC stresses the need for anyone showing symptoms to stay at home and to seek medical attention if necessary. Company policies should be reviewed to ensure that they reflect this important safety standard. Hygiene and Social Distancing Good hygiene and social distancing are cultural habits that organizations can encourage. They can be quite effective in slowing the spread of influenza viruses, thereby mitigating the impact of an influenza pandemic. Practicing good hygiene is the most common recommendation from experts when dealing with an influenza outbreak. Washing hands with soap and water for at least 15 seconds has been shown to reduce the spread of influenza. 3 Reminding employees of the effectiveness of good hygiene (e.g., via , posting notices in the washroom) is a simple proactive measure that can lessen the impact of an outbreak. Social distancing, in the business context, means nodding instead of shaking hands and holding fewer face-to-face meetings. An organization should encourage a level of social distancing that is relative to the level of pandemic in the area or organization. For example, if a person is showing symptoms of influenza, face-to-face meetings should be avoided. Masks Masks have not been shown to reduce the spread of influenza outside of health-care settings. 4 Providing masks to employees with the implication that they will decrease the risk of contracting the illness may create some legal liability for employers. Business Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist* In the event of pandemic influenza, businesses will play a key role in protecting employees health and safety as well as limiting the negative impact to the economy and society. Planning for pandemic influenza is critical. To assist you in your efforts, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed the following checklist for large businesses. It identifies important, specific activities large businesses can do now to prepare, many of which will also help you in other emergencies. 1. Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your business: Identify a pandemic coordinator and/or team with defined roles and responsibilities for preparedness and response planning. The planning process should include input from labor representatives. Identify essential employees and other critical inputs (e.g., raw materials, suppliers, subcontractor services/products, and logistics) required to maintain business operations by location and function during a pandemic. Train and prepare ancillary workforce (e.g., contractors, employees in other job titles/descriptions, retirees). Develop and plan for scenarios likely to result in an increase or decrease in demand for your products and/or services during a pandemic (e.g., effect of restriction on mass gatherings, need for hygiene supplies). Determine potential impact of a pandemic on company business financials using multiple possible scenarios that affect different product lines and/or production sites. Determine potential impact of a pandemic on business-related domestic and international travel (e.g., quarantines, border closures). Find up-to-date, reliable pandemic information from community public health, emergency management, and other sources, and make sustainable links. Establish an emergency communications plan and revise periodically. This plan includes identification of key contacts (with backups), chain of communications (including suppliers and customers), and processes for tracking and communicating business and employee status. Implement an exercise/drill to test your plan, and revise periodically. (cont d on next page) 3 World Health Organization, Clean Hands Protect Against Infection [online]. Website content. Geneva: WHO [cited May 6, 2009]. 4 World Health Organization, Advice on the Use of Masks in the Community Setting in Influenza A (H1N1) Outbreaks [online]. Website content. Geneva: WHO [cited May 6, 2009]. csr/resources/publications/swineflu/masks_community/en/index.html.

4 4 H1N1 Influenza May 2009 Business Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist* (cont d) Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your employees and customers: Forecast and allow for employee absences during a pandemic due to factors such as personal illness, family member illness, community containment measures and quarantines, school and/ or business closures, and public transportation closures. Implement guidelines to modify the frequency and type of faceto-face contact (e.g., hand-shaking, seating in meetings, office layout, shared workstations) among employees and between employees and customers. (Refer to CDC recommendations.) Encourage and track annual influenza vaccination for employees. Evaluate employee access to, and availability of, health-care services during a pandemic, and improve services as needed. Evaluate employee access to, and availability of, mental health and social services during a pandemic, including corporate, community, and faith-based resources, and improve services as needed. Identify employees and key customers with special needs, and incorporate the requirements of such persons into your preparedness plan. Establish policies to be implemented during a pandemic: Establish policies for employee compensation and sick-leave absences unique to a pandemic (e.g., non-punitive, liberal leave), including policies on when a previously ill person is no longer infectious and can return to work after illness. Establish policies for flexible worksite (e.g., telecommuting) and flexible work hours (e.g., staggered shifts). Establish policies for preventing influenza spread at the worksite (e.g., promoting respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette, and prompt exclusion of people with influenza symptoms). Establish policies for employees who have been exposed to pandemic influenza, are suspected to be ill, or become ill at the worksite (e.g., infection control response, immediate mandatory sick leave). Establish policies for restricting travel to affected geographic areas (consider both domestic and international sites), evacuating employees working in or near an affected area when an outbreak begins, and guidance for employees returning from affected areas. (Refer to CDC travel recommendations.) Set up authorities, triggers, and procedures for activating and terminating the company s response plan, altering business operations (e.g., shutting down operations in affected areas), and transferring business knowledge to key employees Allocate resources to protect your employees and customers during a pandemic: Provide sufficient and accessible infection control supplies (e.g., hand-hygiene products, tissues and receptacles for their disposal) in all business locations. Enhance communications and information technology infrastructures as needed to support employee telecommuting and remote customer access. Ensure availability of medical consultation and advice for emergency response. Communicate to, and educate, your employees: Develop and disseminate programs and materials covering pandemic fundamentals (e.g., signs and symptoms of influenza, modes of transmission), personal and family protection and response strategies (e.g., hand hygiene, coughing/sneezing etiquette, contingency plans). Anticipate employee fear and anxiety, rumors and misinformation, and plan communications accordingly. Ensure that communications are culturally and linguistically appropriate. Disseminate information to employees about your pandemic preparedness and response plan. Provide information for the at-home care of ill employees and family members. Develop platforms (e.g., hotlines, dedicated websites) for communicating pandemic status and actions to employees, vendors, suppliers, and customers inside and outside the worksite in a consistent and timely way, including redundancies in the emergency contact system. Identify community sources for timely and accurate pandemic information (domestic and international) and resources for obtaining countermeasures (e.g., vaccines and antivirals). Coordinate with external organizations and help your community: Collaborate with insurers, health plans, and major local healthcare facilities to share your pandemic plans and understand their capabilities and plans. Collaborate with federal, state, and local public health agencies and/or emergency responders to participate in their planning processes, share your pandemic plans, and understand their capabilities and plans. Communicate with local and/or state public health agencies and/ or emergency responders about the assets and/or services your business could contribute to the community. Share best practices with other businesses in your communities, chambers of commerce, and associations to improve community response efforts. *The content of this textbox has been cited from the U.S. government influenza website managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Source:

5 The Conference Board of Canada. All rights reserved. Please contact cboc.ca/ip with questions or concerns about the use of this material. Online Resources Health Organizations The following websites will provide the most up-to-date information on the H1N1 outbreak, as well as answers to frequently asked questions about pandemic preparedness. Public Health Agency of Canada H1N1 Flu Virus (Human Swine Flu): World Health Organization Influenza A(H1N1): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu): Reference Material A State of Unpreparedness: Canadian Organizations Readiness for a Pandemic This report, prepared by The Conference Board of Canada in 2006, provides advice on how to protect employees and enable business continuity if a full-scale pandemic arises. World Health Organization H1N1 Guidance Documents This WHO website presents the most up-to-date information regarding the current H1N1 outbreak and provides suggestions and guidance for individuals and organizations preparing for possible future pandemics. H1N1 Influenza: Preparing Your Organization for a Pandemic by Anthony Beck About The Conference Board of Canada We are: The foremost, independent, not-for-profit applied research organization in Canada. Objective and non-partisan. We do not lobby for specific interests. Funded exclusively through the fees we charge for services to the private and public sectors. Experts in running conferences but also at conducting, publishing, and disseminating research; helping people network; developing individual leadership skills; and building organizational capacity. Specialists in economic trends, as well as organizational performance and public policy issues. Not a government department or agency, although we are often hired to provide services for all levels of government. Independent from, but affiliated with, The Conference Board, Inc. of New York, which serves nearly 2,000 companies in 60 nations and has offices in Brussels and Hong Kong. Publication E-copy: Complimentary 255 Smyth Road, Ottawa ON K1H 8M7 Canada Tel Fax Inquiries The Conference Board, Inc. 845 Third Avenue, New York NY USA Tel Fax The Conference Board Europe Chaussée de La Hulpe 130, Box 11, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel Fax The Conference Board Asia-Pacific 2802 Admiralty Centre, Tower 1, 18 Harcourt Road, Admiralty Hong Kong SAR Tel Fax The Conference Board of Canada* Printed in Canada All rights reserved ISSN ISBN Agreement No *Incorporated as AERIC Inc. For more information, please contact us at the numbers listed above or contactcboc@conferenceboard.ca. This publication is available on the Internet at Forecasts and research often involve numerous assumptions and data sources, and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. This information is not intended as specific investment, accounting, legal, or tax advice.