Preparing for Seasonal Flu at Work

Just cause you can’t see it . . .

Have you ever viewed a bug (insect style) under a scanning electronic microscope?  A chemist friend of mine shared examples one day. If you think bugs are creepy at a 20-20 vision range, an up-close-and-personal SEM image will definitely creep you out.

It occurred to me. It is a blessing that we cannot see human-hosted bugs --- such as the influenza (flu) viruses --- with the naked eye. These viruses look for us in all the right places, whether or not we are aware of it. One night we go to bed feeling fine and like an adult.  Then the next morning, we wake up feeling like an overwhelmed child:  sweating, shivering and aching, and like someone is pounding our head with a jackhammer. 

Biologists describe the flu bug as having crowns and spikes. Visualizing some flu bug with spiked hair infiltrating noses, mouths and ears might make any work or shop alcoholic anxious to venture out of the house.

Maybe the airlines have a good point?

Speaking of working and shopping, what can and should a business do to prepare for a seasonal flu outbreak?  I’m really into the logic exemplified by the airlines’ safety approach. You know---what should passengers do if that oxygen mask deploys? 

By the time passengers are seat-belted and the airplane takes off, flight attendants demonstrate step-by-step safety instructions. The bottom line of the instructions is: Stay put, save yourself first and then assist others. 

Likewise when workers get the flu, I advocate the business HR mantra, “Stay home and take care of yourself first.  Then, come back and assist us.” 

Hop on, I’ll take you to work

It’s always a tough call in the workplace.  Do we want workers to stay home at the first sniffle, sneeze, ache or chill?  Too, some committed workers do not want to call in sick.

I say, let’s reassure them that we want them back, but in good health and virus-free.  Let’s keep the seasonal flu virus from spreading by encouraging infected workers to stay home. Lysol and antibacterial soap do little to keep virus-related illnesses from spreading and nearly everybody loses.

For more information about the influenza virus, visit the Center for Disease Control online.  This Web site also provides current outbreak (surveillance) data. 

Seasonal Versus Pandemic Flu

Although both are serious, seasonal flu and pandemic flu are not the same. Pandemic flu is more deadly and serious. It involves a global outbreak of a particular strain, such as the Spanish Flu of 1918, when an estimated 50 million people died. OSHA and the U.S. Department of Labor published a free online handbook to help business owners prepare for such a catastrophic event.