Advice for businesses
The Scottish Government is engaging closely with business organisations and will continue to keep them informed of developments for the duration of the influenza A (H1N1) outbreak. The focus remains on ensuring that all businesses are fully prepared to deal with the impacts of any outbreak.
The principal risk to the continuity of critical business functions in a pandemic is the shortage of staff both within organisations and in suppliers and subcontractors.
A webinar online seminar has been prepared to communicate pandemic flu preparedness messages to businesses.
Your business
To reduce the impact of these potential problems, businesses need to ensure that they have:
- identified critical activities that must be maintained and, by implication, what work could be deferred
- identified the resources needed to deliver these critical activities, particularly staff
- considered both the number of staff they will need and which specialist skills, knowledge or authority those staff will require
- made available the information that staff will need in order to deputise for others
- put in place arrangements so changes in work priorities can be implemented and resources realigned, in order to maintain critical activities
- put in place arrangements to maintain good communications with staff, customers and suppliers
You may wish to hold a meeting with key staff to plan how you would manage the effects of flu on your business.
Here is an agenda and chair's briefing note for use by small businesses. It contains information about how flu may affect you and what you can do now to prepare.
Your staff - absences
One of the most important business impacts of the influenza pandemic is likely to be staff absences. Staff could be:
- ill with flu, or ill for other reasons (normal sickness levels)
- caring for others who are ill, or caring for children if their school is closed
- delayed due to transport and other possible difficulties
- absent due to other reasons, e.g. fear or avoidance of infection
The number of people who will fall ill at any time is difficult to predict. Many factors affect the rate of spread of the infection, including local circumstances, personal attitudes and behaviour. Also, the characteristics of the virus, its severity and ease of transmission, may change.
Information on sickness self certification for employees and employers
Although exact predictions are not available, for planning purposes it is prudent to consider how you would respond to total absences of 10 to 15 per cent lasting seven weeks, and absences of 20 to 30 percent during the worst fortnight.
Staff who have flu-like symptoms should stay at home and contact their GP or NHS24 on 08454 24 24 24.
To avoid spreading the illness amongst other staff, they should not return to work until they are advised to do so by their doctor or nurse.
Your suppliers
Businesses should consider the effect of staff absences on the suppliers and subcontractors on which they depend. Staff absences in suppliers may affect the services that businesses are able to provide and the availability of some raw materials.
Infection control
Businesses can find advice about avoiding spreading flu at the NHS24 swine flu pages which includes infection control advice. Advice about facemasks is available at HSE Workplace Guidance.
Additional information