Cal/OSHA Guidance for Employers:
California employers are encouraged to review their strategies for protecting the health of their employees, including their pandemic flu or other emergency plans. Employers should take this opportunity to update their plans and to train their employees.

Federal OSHA has added several documents to their website which provide specific advice regarding H1N1 and pandemic influenza. These can be found at www.osha.gov, under the heading â??In Focus.â? Additional information on how businesses can plan for pandemic flu can be found at: http://www.osha.gov/Publications/influenza_pandemic.html

Health Care and Other High Risk Environments:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control have prepared special guidelines for protecting health care workers who are exposed to people who are suspected of, or confirmed as being, infected with the H1N1 flu virus. More information can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidelines_infection_control.htm

At a minimum, the CDC recommends the use of approved N95 filtering faceâ?piece respirators when providing care to H1N1 flu patients or otherwise entering the patientâ??s room, and when collecting clinical samples, such as nasal swabs. The California Department of Public Health guidelines can be found at:
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Documents/CDPH_Swine_Flu_Infection_Control_Recommendations.pdf

In general, health care operations and other higher risk environments such as homeless shelters, should take steps to reduce employee exposure to this disease through their injury and illness prevention plan, and through providing approved respiratory protection when necessary. Posters and signs informing people to â??cover their cough,â? which can be understood by all people who enter the facility, should be posted.

OSHA and Cal/OSHA regulations require that employees who use respirators be included in a respiratory protection plan that includes a medical evaluation, training, and fit testing to ensure that the respirator provides an adequate seal to the employeeâ??s face.

Covered employers specifically include the following in the health care profession:
â?¢ Hospitals
â?¢ Skilled nursing facilities
â?¢ Clinics
â?¢ Medical offices
â?¢ Home healthcare services
â?¢ Long-term healthcare facilities
â?¢ Emergency service providers
â?¢ Medical transport

Certain other high-risk facilities outside of the health care profession also are covered by the regulations. These include:
â?¢ Police services during transport or detention of persons suspected to be cases of aerosol transmissible diseases
â?¢ Homeless shelters
â?¢ Drug treatment programs
â?¢ Medical examiners’ offices

General Swine Flu Infection Control Advice for All Other Employers:
Employers can take some steps to help protect employees, including these, suggested by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):
â?¢ Encourage sick workers to stay home and away from the workplace, and provide flexible leave policies.
â?¢ Encourage infection control practices in the workplace by displaying posters that address and remind workers about proper hand washing, respiratory hygiene, and cough etiquette.
â?¢ Provide written guidance on swine flu, either through e-mail or other written workplace communications. Employers should work to ensure they are providing the most appropriate and up-to-date information. Information regarding the swine flu is available on the CDC’s web site at http://www.cdc.gov.
â?¢ Provide sufficient facilities for hand washing and alcohol-based (at least 60%) hand sanitizers (or wipes) in common workplace areas such as lobbies, corridors, and restrooms.
â?¢ Provide tissues, disinfectants, and disposable towels for employees to clean their work surfaces, as well as appropriate disposal receptacles for use by employees.
â?¢ To reduce the chance of spread of the swine flu virus, disinfect frequently touched hard surfaces in the workplace, such as work stations, counter tops, door knobs, and bathroom surfaces by wiping them down with a household disinfectant according to directions on the product label. One study showed that the influenza virus can survive on environmental surfaces and can infect a person for up to 2-8 hours after being deposited on the surface.

Impact of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA):
â?¢ Employers should be aware that the ADA may impact their ability to require employees be tested for the swine flu. Under the ADA, an employer’s ability to make disability-related inquiries or require medical examinations is analyzed in three stages: pre-offer, post-offer, and employment. An employer may not make any disability-related inquiries or require medical examinations prior to an employment offer. However, after an employee has received a conditional offer of employment, the employer may require the employee to undergo a medical test, such as a test for swine flu, if it requires all entering employees in the same job category to undergo the same test. Thus, an employer can require all entering employees to be tested for swine flu.
â?¢ Under the ADA, employers can require current employees to undergo medical examinations (a test for the swine flu virus likely would be considered a medical examination) when such examinations are job-related and consistent with business necessity. An employer likely can meet this requirement by showing that an employee who displays symptoms of swine flu presents a direct threat of substantial harm to other employees. Thus, an employer likely can require an employee who displays symptoms of swine flu to submit to a test for the virus if this employee’s present physical condition presents a direct threat to other employees.
â?¢ Employers must treat the results of any swine flu test as confidential, as is required for all employee medical information. Additionally, employers should treat as confidential any information they receive indicating that an employee has been exposed to the swine flu.
â?¢ The EEOC’s guidance notes that an employer may survey its workforce to gather personal information needed for pandemic preparation if the employer asks broad questions that are not limited to disability-related inquiries. An inquiry would not be disability-related if it identifies non-medical reasons for absence during a pandemic (e.g., mandatory school closures or curtailed public transportation) on an equal footing with medical reasons (e.g., chronic illnesses that weaken immunity).

Summary:
The key to preventing the spread of the swine flu is education. This can be accomplished providing ongoing written and verbal communication and training about the swine flu and by updating your Illness and Injury Prevention Plan (IIPP) and your Employee Handbook. This will let your employees know that you are being proactive about their welfare and are serious about preventing the spread of the swine flu.

Human Resources 4U can assist you with the development of these plans and programs.