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Connecticut OSHA Alert 2

May 7th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

Every employer should have an emergency plan for fire, flood, tornado, and … the flu?

According to a recent Connecticut OSHA alert, that’s true. The influenza virus, in the form of a worldwide pandemic, is a danger to every business.

A recent Connecticut OSHA alert pointed out that any employee or employer should include in their emergency plans at their workplace a plan for a worldwide influenza pandemic. The plan must contain, among others, behavior and hygiene measures. Reducing the contact between coworkers and between employees and public, can minimize the spread of disease. For example, instead of meetings, the businesses can schedule conference calls. They can also allow telecommuting, allowing some employees to work from home. The use of drive-thru windows can be an effective barrier between employees and the public.

Some tips about hygiene, not only during a pandemic, but in general, are:

Don’t go to school or work when you are ill
Don’t cough or squeeze without covering your mouth (a disposable tissue is recommended)
Don’t stay close to infected people
Don’t forget to wash your hands frequently

In a pandemic, the flu virus appears in a new strain, and it spread quickly from person to person across the globe. Between 1918 and 1920, more than 50 million people died because of the flu, many of them healthy young adults. This was the last major influenza pandemic. The virus first appeared at a military base in Kansas, but spread rapidly all over the world.

In most countries, wartime censorship prevented newspapers from publishing articles about the disease. The Spanish press, however, published many stories, and the illness was called the “Spanish Flu”. According to OSHA, a pandemic can produce severe damage to the global economy, more than any single terrorist attack.

Ordinary influenza is not the same as influenza pandemic. Flu is an uncomfortable and annoying disease but not risky. Small children, the elderly or people with compromised immune systems, may have serious problems with the flu, but not healthy adults.

No influenza pandemic has developed in the last decades. Every year during fall and winter, the seasonal flu appears, but it is not a significant menace.