Preparing for Flu Season

With the dramatic shortage of flu vaccine, employers are facing some daunting problems this coming flu season. The limited available shots will go to high priority populations: very young children, the elderly and the chronically ill. For relatively healthy people, flu shots are unlikely to be available. This means, in turn, that the average workplace is much more likely to be confronted with flu-infected employees. What should be done?

The best way to prevent the spreading of flu is for the sick person to stay home. This sounds easy, but it isn’t. In our low-octane economy, with fewer employees being asked to do more and more, people are reluctant to “take a few days off.” In addition, there are millions of workers who lack paid sick leave. When these people stay home, they don’t earn any money – so they are inclined to drag themselves into work with the flu, thereby exposing co-workers and the public to possible infection. (This could be a huge problem in the fast food industry, where employee benefits tend toward the minimum.) Finally, the flu is actually contagious for one day prior to any symptoms appearing, so even cautious employees may expose others to illness.

What can be done? The Centers for Disease Control has a lot of useful information on the flu. They tell us to cough and sneeze into Kleenex and to wash our hands frequently. (Yes, mom was right about this one.) The CDC has educational posters that can be downloaded and posted for employees. The savvy safety manager should go into this flu season with a much higher awareness than in the past. There will be more flu going around than in recent years. While flu for the most part is not a workers compensation issue, it is certainly a productivity issue – one which bears careful monitoring over the coming months.