Swine Flu Advice for Business
What can businesses do now?
Consider the potential impact for your business:
- Can your staff work from home, especially as they may have to care for relatives who become sick as a result of the virus?
- Will your suppliers still be able to continue deliveries?
- What contingency stocks do you hold or do you rely on ?Just in Time; ordering and purchasing?
- Does your business interact with the public, and if so what are you doing to reduce the risk of spread?
- Have you revised your HR policies to take into account e.g. sickness and sick pay, working additional hours (working time directive), driver hour restrictions?
- Are there key people in your organisation without whom your business would find it difficult to function?
- Do a sufficient number of people have access to confidential information e.g. payroll so that your staff can continue to be paid?
- What impact will a slowing down of your business activity have on your sales and subsequent cash-flow, both during and in the months following?
- Is the impact likely to affect adversely the viability of your suppliers and customers, thereby putting your own business at risk?
- Have you enquired of your key suppliers and customers what plans they have in place for these contingencies?
Resources
The National Pandemic Flu Service
Online and/or by phone, your employees will be able to check their symptoms and recieve a diagnosis and recieve a voucher that they can use to pick up anitviral medicines from a local collection centre or have a 'flu-friend' collect on their behalf.
In the meantime you should advise your employees that they should contact their GP immediately if they think they have swine flu symptoms.
Pandemic Flu Guidance for Business
The booklet published by the NHS explains how businesses can reduce the spread of flu.
Follow NHS Guidance
Businesses should follow detailed NHS guidance for employers in the workplace.
Download the detailed NHS guidance for employers in the workplace from the Department of Health Website (PDF, 530K) - www.dh.gov.uk
Download the NHS leaflet on Swine Flu from the Directgov website (PDF, 119K) - www.direct.gov.uk
You can also access the leaflet on Swine Flu in alternative languages and formast on the Directgov website.
The more your employees know about how to prevent infection, the more resilient your business will be. Although we are moving to the treatment phase in response to the spread of Swine Flu, it's important that you and your employees continue to do everything you can to stop Swine Flu from spreading.
The key prevention messages are:
- always carry tissues
- use clean tissues to cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze
- bin the tissues after one use
- wash you hands with soap and hot water or a sanitser gel often
Or in short: "Catch it, bin it, kill it"
General guidance on business risks and continuity planning
Think through the risks and the changes you need to make to your operation relevant to the Swine Flu pandemic. For regular updated information, visit the Business Link website - www.businesslink.gov.uk