Swine Flu Guidance
From containment to treatment
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised its pandemic alert to level 6. This reflects the WHO's analysis of the global spread , not the severity , of the disease.
The UK government is increasing its focus on treating the increasing number of people who have swine flu as the virus inevitably spreads more widely in the UK .
UK situation
The duration of the swine flu outbreak is likely to happen between August and November - around 30% of the public maybe infected but it will not spread uniformly across the UK; The Government expects the first wave may peak broadly between late August to late September;
During the peak weeks employee absence rates for illness (themselves or looking after ill children) may reach 12% of the workforce and tail off to 9% by the end of August - this is in addition to normal holiday absence.
The National Pandemic Flu Service
Follow NHS guidance
Reducing the risk of healthy/susceptible people becoming infected
Risk Assessment Matrix
General guidance on business risks and continuity planning
Mass gatherings
Flu Response Centre - contact details
Additional Information
The National Pandemic Flu Service
The National Pandemic Flu Service is due to go live in mid July. The service will take the pressure off GP surgeries and hospitals. Online and/or by phone, your employees will be able to check their symptoms and receive a diagnosis and receive a voucher that they can use to pick up antiviral 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.
Follow NHS guidance
Businesses should follow detailed NHS guidance for employers in the workplace, set out below.
Reducing transmission of infection from a symptomatic individual
The principal action will be to promote the importance of prompt and effective self-isolation by individuals with symptoms consistent with swine flu; such people should be encouraged to stay at home until symptoms resolve .
Where self-isolation is not immediately possible, people with symptoms of flu should be encouraged to adopt proper respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene and, where possible, avoid close interaction and direct contact with other people.
Environmental
Prominently displayed signs should be used to discourage staff and visitors with flu symptoms from entering the workplace and remind people of:
- the signs and symptoms of flu;
- the importance of self-isolation of individuals with symptoms consistent with swine flu;
- The importance of respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene at all times;
- Surfaces should be cleaned frequently with the usual cleaning materials;
- Where practicable, effective use of physical barriers (screens and counters) should be made to help restrict close interaction and direct contact with potentially ill customers or visitors;
- Consideration should be given to improving access to effective hand hygiene facilities. Where practicable, hand rubs (microbicidal hand rubs, particularly alcohol-based) could be made available at entrances to premises which are used by customers or visitors; and
- Where practical, consideration should be given to minimising the amount of soft furnishings and other objects that could potentially become contaminated and are difficult to clean.
Organisational
1. Raise awareness among staff of the signs and symptoms of flu and the need for individuals to self-isolate (stay at home) if they have symptoms consistent with swine flu.
2. Consider how best to manage people who develop symptoms consistent with swine flu in the workplace.
3. Promote an environment in which
staff that become unwell feel that they can go home and stay at home until they are well.
4. Consider alternatives to direct meetings and visits (e.g. phone or video conferencing). This advice led the BCC to use webinars as an example of how to communicate during an outbreak.
5. Where contact with those who may have symptoms is consistent with swine flu (customers/visitors) is unavoidable, reduce the risk of transmission of disease to staff and others by encouraging:
- The use of proper hand hygiene before entering premises or handling goods. When handling documents or money, staff should be encouraged to minimise contact with their mouth, eyes and nose until their hands have been cleaned.
- The practice of high standards of respiratory etiquette, such as covering the mouth with a tissue when coughing and sneezing.
6. Where practicable, direct contact should be avoided and, where possible, a distance of more than 1 metre should be kept between staff and customers/visitors.
7. HR policies should reinforce the early recognition of illness and the need for workers to remain at home when ill. HR policies may wish to
reflect the impact of a pandemic on dependants and be sensitive to staff needs during times of caring for family members or even bereavement.
Masks
Where social interactions are unavoidable, individuals with symptoms consistent with swine flu should be encouraged to minimise close interactions and/or direct contact with people. Alternatively, if contact is unavoidable, consideration may be given to asking individuals with symptoms consistent with swine flu to wear a face mask (if available) while interacting with staff. These could be made available at entrances to premises which are used by customers or visitors. For certain occupations and activities where there is an increased likelihood of exposure (e.g., health and social care workers), HSE's guidance is that fluid-repellent surgical face masks offer a barrier to minimise contact with the mouth and nose but do not offer protection against aerosols . For protection against aerosols a FFP3 mask should be used. A filtering facepiece device is a mask which is certified to the PPE Directive. It provides a high level of filtering capability and face fit. For further details please see this filtering facepiece guidance.
Masks should only be worn once. The frequency with which they are changed will depend on the nature of the duties being undertaken as well as taking account of the manufacturer's instructions. In the healthcare setting, the replacement of masks will be governed by the requirements of infection control procedures.
Physical barriers
If a worker is working in an area where they are separated from other people by barriers such as glass screens etc, then this will act as a physical barrier to influenza transmission. For example, workers who deal with the public from behind glass screens (e.g. in a Post Office) could not be regarded as being likely to be sneezed or coughed upon by a member of the public, even if they were to have symptoms.
Reducing the risk of healthy/susceptible people becoming infected
The principal actions will be to try to ensure that healthy people reduce or avoid contact with individuals with symptoms consistent with swine flu and adopt practices that reduce the risk of catching the infection (for example, social distancing measures and effective hand hygiene).
Environmental
1. Assess access to hand hygiene facilities.
2. Clean surfaces frequently touched by hands with normal cleaning agents.
Organisational
1. Raise awareness of the importance of respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene.
2. Consider the practicability of
the effective use of social distancing within work environments if social interaction is unavoidable. for example:
- measures to reduce the frequency of interactions should be considered, e.g. staggering lunch breaks or reducing the number of people in enclosed places;
- reduce face-to-face meetings wherever possible and only undertake essential travel;
- encourage the use of video or telephone communication or conferencing;
- Consider the use of home working for those staff for whom this would be a practical option; and
- Identify individuals who may be at particular risk of the adverse effects of flu and deploy them in areas where contacts are minimal.
- Individual behaviour
1. Staff should adopt good hand hygiene practices and minimise touching the mouth, eyes and/or nose.
2. Increase social distancing and try to avoid being part of a crowd. Where it is unavoidable, adopt good respiratory and hand hygiene.
3. Minimise any contact with any individual with symptoms consistent with swine flu
4. If close proximity (less than a metre) with an individual with symptoms consistent with swine flu inevitable, then consideration might be given to using a face mask. If face masks are worn, staff must follow the procedures for their safe use, paying particular attention to how they are both removed and disposed of. Staff may expose themselves to additional risk of infection if they fail to use or dispose of face masks correctly.
The use of a face mask must not decrease the strict application of other, more relevant, infection control measures .
Risk Assessment Matrix
There is no single approach or measure that can be taken to reduce the spread of flu. Prompt self-isolation together with proper respiratory etiquette and effective hand hygiene should be actively promoted, encouraged and applied. An approach where environmental, organisational and individual actions are combined and applied will help to reduce the spread of the flu virus within the workplace.
General guidance on business risks and continuity planning
Thinking through the risks and the changes you need to make to your operations is relevant to the swine flu pandemic but could also be used for a number of other business crises and emergencies. The businesslink website gives general advice on continuity planning for your business.
Mass gatherings
Currently the government is not advising avoidance of mass gatherings or social events and there are no restrictions in place . This includes sporting events, concerts and other public events.
Flu Response Centre - contact details
Flu response centres (FRCs) have been established in each Region of England to receive calls from health professionals regarding patients with flu-like illness and their contacts. FRCs undertake the assessment of patients, arrange with GPs and others for samples to be taken for laboratory diagnosis, identify and follow up contacts and arrange for prophylaxis to be given where appropriate.
Regional FRC name Contact number
North West Flu Response Centre 0845 4251727
London Flu Response Centre 0845 4251752
West Midlands Flu Response Centre 0845 4251753
South West Flu Response Centre 0845 4251754
East of England Flu Response Centre 0845 4251755
East Midlands Flu Response Centre 0845 4251756
Yorkshire and the Humber Flu Response Centre 0845 2700899
North East Flu Response Centre 0845 4251759
South East Coast Flu Response Centre 0845 4251757
South East - South Central Flu Response Centre 0845 4251758
Additional Information
PANDEMIC FLU - Guidance for businesses
This simple and generic guidance has been developed to raise awareness of the measures that may be employed to reduce the spread of the flu virus at work.
PANDEMIC FLU - Guidance for employers
Basic facts, Advance planning in the workplace and Dealing with it when it happens.
Swine Flu Guidance Notes and Procedures
Comman Sense Compliance Ltd.
Employers could prevent Swine Flu!
Creating wellbeing at work is a strategic focus for many organisations and the current issues around Swine Flu is becoming a concern for employers.