Sunday, November 29, 2009

Ways businesses seek to blunt swine flu's impact

The Associated Press
Sunday, November 29, 2009; 1:44 PM

-- Some common strategies employers are using or planning to limit the spread of swine flu among their work force and keep operations going normally:

- Posting information about the swine flu, including tips on hygiene and overall healthy behavior aimed at preventing infection, at the work site or on the company intranet.

- Giving hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes to employees or placing them in major traffic areas.

- Limiting in-person meetings and instead opting for teleconferences.

- Encouraging social distancing, such as not shaking hands.

- Cross-training employees to cover critical functions.

- Planning to shift work from hard-hit locations to other facilities.

- Stocking up on protective face masks.

- Stepping up office facility cleaning, particularly in "high-touch" areas.

- Telling workers to stay home if they are ill, generally until a day after their fever breaks.

- Allowing telecommuting for staff members who must stay home to care for relatives sick with swine flu.

- Drills to verify that computer systems can handle a sharp increase in those working remotely.

No comments: