Oklahoma State Council for Human Resource Management

What to do About Swine Flu

With the increasing number of swine flu cases reported in the U.S. and Mexico and the media attention about the outbreak, many employees may have concerns about exposure at work and the steps you are taking to protect them. We suggest the following:

Communicate to your employees that you are following the situation closely and will take reasonable steps to ensure their safety and health.
Review the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration daily for updates on steps to take during the outbreak.
Instruct employees to report to their supervisors if they are experiencing any flu-like symptoms.
Instruct supervisors to notify Human Resources immediately upon such a report.
Review your leave and telecommuting policies and adjust them, if necessary, to encourage employees to stay at home if they experience flu-like symptoms.
Remind employees of the importance of washing hands frequently and to practice good hygiene.
Communicate with your internal or external cleaning services about additional steps they may be able to take to further sanitize your worksites.
Discontinue nonessential travel to Mexico and other locations the CDC identifies as having high illness transmission rates.

On April 28, OSHA placed a special link on its website that offers its "Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic." In it OSHA describes a number of measures designed to protect employees in the event of a flu pandemic. In addition, OSHA recommends that employers develop specific pandemic flu plans to meet the needs of their work places.

Newton O'Connor Turner & Ketchum, P.C., 27th Floor, Bank of America Building, 15 West Sixth Street, Tulsa, OK 74119-5423