The swine flu vaccine was approved for release by the FDA. It will be about 4 weeks before you are able to be vaccinated. In the meantime, you may have a number of questions regarding the vaccine and its safety. It is important to be educated about the virus and vaccine before making a decision regarding whether you should be vaccinated. By being educated you can protect yourself and others, including family members or coworkers.

The first thing you should do is view the websites of the FDA & CDC. They include a number of links and answers to many of the questions you may have regarding the vaccine. Another great resource is flu.gov, which is a site maintained by the United Department of Health and Human Services. There is also a wealth of information on non-government websites and there several worthwhile free webinars available. One such webinar is being facilitated by Emilcott, and more information can be found here.

EHSWire.com contributing writer Dale Wilson, CIH LEED AP, touched on the Swine Flu subject last week in his post – “The Swine Flu Panic: Were You Ready?: Pandemic Response Planning for Businesses”.

In this post he spoke about many issues that were either left out, or pushed back in their level of importance by the media concerning work related scenarios. A May 15th Webinar, developed by EHS professionals, will further detail the Planning, Prevention and Response to the virus should it ever become an epidemic or affect your workplace.

Included Information:

“Pandemic-specific planning should include developing procedures for:
• Establishing a Response Team and Team Leader, including responsible representatives from all departments
• Restricting access to you facility to anyone exhibiting flu-like symptoms
• Promotion of personal hygiene and the specifics, such as signage and supplies to maintain a sanitary environment
• The potential increase of workplace housekeeping activity and the specifics of what, where and how
• Evaluation and possible changes of attendance policies
• Possible restriction of non-essential travel
• Possible restriction or minimization of group meetings and implementation of teleconferences or telecommuting
• The potential need to increase fresh air ventilation and/or the efficiency of HVAC system filters.”

– Dale Wilson

Visit – H1N1_influenza_A.asp – For More Information

The Swine Flu (H1N1 influenza A) outbreak has created a firestorm of media coverage, but the news focus has concentrated mostly on the possible effects on families, schools, hospitals and communities. All kinds of advice has been released to the public about precautions-with little emphasis on the business community. Illnesses can spread through an office complex as quickly as anywhere else. Businesses need to consider what appropriate emergency response actions must be in place to ensure business continuity should a full fledged pandemic be declared.

Prior to swine flu, the need for facilities to develop and maintain current emergency response and continuity plans has been highlighted by numerous events –both man-made and naturally occurring–such as terrorist attacks, anthrax in the mail, the Bopal chemical release in India, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, civil unrest, blackouts, earthquakes, wildfires, and of course, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Unlike the events listed above, however, which tend to affect localized areas, a pandemic flu outbreak has the potential to spread – reaching distant areas- and therefore cause the most widespread disruption to our daily lives. A good Emergency Response and Business Contingency Plan needs to consider not only the direct impacts on business, but the potential impact on employees and their families, suppliers, and customers.

Hopefully, if you are in charge of your companies Emergency Response and Contingency Planning, you can easily pull your current plans off the shelf to review their content and start preparing for any eventuality. If you are not at that point, you really need to begin the process immediately to minimize potential consequences. There are a number of resources available on the internet. I have pulled together the best of the available resources.

From the Building and Owners Management Association (BOMA) of Canada:
http://www.bomacanada-pandemic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/200704_PANDEMIC_GUIDE.pdf

From the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Foundation http://www.ifmafoundation.org/pandemic.pdf

While these documents are geared to commercial buildings and facilities management, they can be adapted to fit most businesses. The IFMA Foundation document provides a greater level of detail on continuity planning and really may be beneficial to evaluating business continuity for scenarios other than pandemic flu, as it has sections on maintaining infrastructure, supply chain management, etc.

Finally, I will mention http://www.pandemicflu.gov/index.html which is one of US government’s websites devoted to pandemic flu response. There is information and checklists available for business as well as information for individuals. As any business is dependent on their employees to function, it is advisable to distribute some of the individual and family information to employees- who may not be absent due to their own illness, but to care for a sick family member instead. Keeping their entire family well is in your best interest.