Swine Flu and The Work Environment
We have been aksed by some employers whether they can request/demand employees to inform them when, and if, they are traveling to Mexico and upon their return require them to present a doctor’s certification that they do not have the swine flu.
In my opinion such demands/requests are really not going to accomplish the intended purpose. First, employees will probably not be so forthcoming with their travel plans, second, a doctor will not know immediately upon their return whether they have the swine flu, and last, such a policy does not take into consideration exposure to someone visiting from Mexico that could give it to a staff member who ultimately brings it back to the workplace. Forget the notion but put something out to the employees (if you so desire) that if they appear to be coming down with the symptoms then to please stay at home.
The symptoms that should be aware of are coughing, fever/chills, sore throat, body aches and fatigue. These are the basics but a physician should be consulted for greater detail if you become concernewd.
The employees can be encouraged, from a preventative standpoint, to continually wash their hands or use one of those alcohol based santitizers I use Purell! I am in New York this week (on business!!!) and have a small bottle in my pocket. Some passengers on the plane wore masks and were also observed wiping down the arm rests and trays with “wipes.” People are doing what they have to, or at least what they think they have to do. Avoiding people who are ill is a must as well as remembering the virus enters the body when we touch our eyes, mouth and nose with hands that have not been properly snatized after having made contact with other people. Encourage employees to cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing. They can also keep wipes around to wipe down telephones and other such common use objects.
Finally, in my humble opinion, I think we should not panic about this latest “threat” of an illness that could potentially “wipe us all out!” We have been here before. SARS and Bird Flu have all been similar threats that disappeared and were also given extensive media coverage. Let’s keep our heads and stick with the basics that we should be doing on a daily basis.
