How ready is your organization for a deadly flu outbreak? As we head into the first months of 2005, it’s a question every HR department should be asking.
In fact, plans to respond to a flu crisis should already be in place. If they’re not, get working because time is ticking.
The World Health Organization warned nations last month to get prepared for a global pandemic that could kill as many as 7 million people. The concern is that the bird flu virus that hit Asia this year may turn into a global health issue in the next months. And while the world may be spared this time, many health experts say a pandemic in the near future is inevitable.
“No country will be spared once it becomes a pandemic,” WHO official Shigeru Omi told a news conference. For Canada, a global outbreak could see more than 10,000 people die and many more hospitalized.
A crisis of this magnitude will make the SARS outbreak of 2003 seem almost trivial, something it certainly was not. Canada was hard hit then, with Vancouver and Toronto taking the brunt of the disease’s effects. Dozens died, hospitals were strained, thousands quarantined, people lived in fear and the economy was damaged.
Canadian HR Reporter’s offices in Carswell’s Toronto office tower were at the centre of the SARS storm. It was here in the northeast corner of the city, where hospitals were particularly hard hit. The area also has a large Asian-Canadian population, which itself was on tenterhooks because the virus was introduced from travellers to Hong Kong. People stayed away from malls and restaurants, and many wore masks when they did venture out. Tourism across Canada suffered, leading to the massive summer SARS concert of 2003 that saw the Rolling Stones trying to convince people it was safe to come to Toronto.
At Carswell, employees were advised to stay at home if they had flu symptoms or had travelled to Asia. Anti-bacterial soap was introduced in bathrooms and hand-washing stations on every floor. It’s good to see that anti-bacterial soap and signs urging proper hand-washing remain today, because such simple precautions must be an everyday routine, not just an after-the-fact response.
This is where HR, among others, needs to chime in. Start planning now. Let’s put an end to coughing, sneezing sick staff dragging themselves into work. They’re not brave troopers, they’re potential productivity destroyers who threaten the health of their co-workers.
Let’s encourage employees to get flu vaccines and hold corporate flu vaccine clinics. (While this year’s vaccine doesn’t guard against the bird flu virus that may come, yearly vaccinations should become routine nonetheless.)
Let’s educate people to practice proper hygiene. Post hygiene messages throughout workplaces, and remind people in all corporate communications avenues. And while adults have a lot to learn about hygiene, as a society we shouldn’t forget about children. Schools are doing a bad job of this. Cost-cutting is being used as an excuse in a wealthy nation where school bathrooms lack such basic necessities as soap.
Canada may not be able to escape a global flu outbreak, but we can lessen its destructive effect on people and the economy.
In Canadian HR Reporter’s March 8, 2004 issue, Marilyn Reddick, HR director at Toronto’s Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, spoke about her organization’s experiences during the SARS outbreak that struck the facility.
“In the next five years there are going to be a lot of people talking about pandemics,” she predicted. If there is a pandemic, it will make SARS look like a minor setback, she said, warning that HR departments need to be talking about and planning for how they will respond.
In fact, plans to respond to a flu crisis should already be in place. If they’re not, get working because time is ticking.
The World Health Organization warned nations last month to get prepared for a global pandemic that could kill as many as 7 million people. The concern is that the bird flu virus that hit Asia this year may turn into a global health issue in the next months. And while the world may be spared this time, many health experts say a pandemic in the near future is inevitable.
“No country will be spared once it becomes a pandemic,” WHO official Shigeru Omi told a news conference. For Canada, a global outbreak could see more than 10,000 people die and many more hospitalized.
A crisis of this magnitude will make the SARS outbreak of 2003 seem almost trivial, something it certainly was not. Canada was hard hit then, with Vancouver and Toronto taking the brunt of the disease’s effects. Dozens died, hospitals were strained, thousands quarantined, people lived in fear and the economy was damaged.
Canadian HR Reporter’s offices in Carswell’s Toronto office tower were at the centre of the SARS storm. It was here in the northeast corner of the city, where hospitals were particularly hard hit. The area also has a large Asian-Canadian population, which itself was on tenterhooks because the virus was introduced from travellers to Hong Kong. People stayed away from malls and restaurants, and many wore masks when they did venture out. Tourism across Canada suffered, leading to the massive summer SARS concert of 2003 that saw the Rolling Stones trying to convince people it was safe to come to Toronto.
At Carswell, employees were advised to stay at home if they had flu symptoms or had travelled to Asia. Anti-bacterial soap was introduced in bathrooms and hand-washing stations on every floor. It’s good to see that anti-bacterial soap and signs urging proper hand-washing remain today, because such simple precautions must be an everyday routine, not just an after-the-fact response.
This is where HR, among others, needs to chime in. Start planning now. Let’s put an end to coughing, sneezing sick staff dragging themselves into work. They’re not brave troopers, they’re potential productivity destroyers who threaten the health of their co-workers.
Let’s encourage employees to get flu vaccines and hold corporate flu vaccine clinics. (While this year’s vaccine doesn’t guard against the bird flu virus that may come, yearly vaccinations should become routine nonetheless.)
Let’s educate people to practice proper hygiene. Post hygiene messages throughout workplaces, and remind people in all corporate communications avenues. And while adults have a lot to learn about hygiene, as a society we shouldn’t forget about children. Schools are doing a bad job of this. Cost-cutting is being used as an excuse in a wealthy nation where school bathrooms lack such basic necessities as soap.
Canada may not be able to escape a global flu outbreak, but we can lessen its destructive effect on people and the economy.
In Canadian HR Reporter’s March 8, 2004 issue, Marilyn Reddick, HR director at Toronto’s Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, spoke about her organization’s experiences during the SARS outbreak that struck the facility.
“In the next five years there are going to be a lot of people talking about pandemics,” she predicted. If there is a pandemic, it will make SARS look like a minor setback, she said, warning that HR departments need to be talking about and planning for how they will respond.
