Gabriel & James comments on the Human Capital impact of Swine Flu in the UK.

July 15, 2009 - PRLog -- With cases of swine flu in the UK rapidly increasing the Government formally moved from the “containment” to a “treatment” phase on July 2nd 2009.

According to the Business Continuity Institute, just half of UK businesses claim to have plans in place for dealing with a crisis with only a third claiming to have continuity plans for coping with large staff shortages.

At the peak of a flu pandemic up to 50% of the workforce could be affected, with a likely recovery time of two to three weeks per person. Although it is unlikely that it will hit everyone at once, enough people could be affected to cause disruption to businesses and the national infrastructure. In an effort to reduce the impact to the NHS, the Government is considering a number of contingency plans, including a temporary extension of self-certification to 14 days to reduce the burden on GP’s.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union is warning that pandemic flu could have a "devastating impact" on the country’s transport system. The potential double whammy is that transport staff absences could restrict service on the grounds of safety and reduced passenger numbers due to illness could bring about the suspension of some services. This would mean that even those healthy workers may not be able to get to a place of work easily.

Infection rates for Swine Flu are likely to be well above that of seasonal flu, probably owing to little or no pre-existing immunity to the new strain. It should however be remembered that seasonal flu is also on occasion fatal and although there will be deaths associated with swine flu; it is unlikely to be a significant percentile of the infected population.
Swine Flu currently manifests itself in typical flu symptoms and is not considered to be life threatening without other underlying health complications; it should not be confused with the deadlier H5N1 bird flu virus.

In the early stages of infection it can be difficult to distinguish between the common cold and influenza infection, but flu can be identified by a high fever and extreme fatigue. People with the flu are advised to get plenty of rest, drink plenty of liquids, avoid using alcohol and tobacco and, if necessary, take medications to relieve the fever and muscle aches associated with the flu.

Gabriel & James are advising organisations wishing to reduce the impact of pandemic flu of wide spread to consider a 10 step process of the following:

1.   Provide staff with sources of information on swine flu, e.g. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Swineflu and the National Swine Flu information line 0800 1 513 513.

2.   Review “sickness” policy and include guidance on pandemic outbreaks and factor into business recovery planning, informing staff of any changes.

3.   Take a common sense approach to your workforce, those suspected of illness or showing symptoms could infect their colleagues and should be kept away from the workplace.

4.   Make plans to facilitate functional home working arrangements employees in business critical functions.

5.   Review policy wording of corporate business interruption and employee benefit policies.

6.   Ensuring succession plans are in place for key executives.

7.   Review and test crisis communications procedures for employees, customers and key stakeholders.

8.   Ensure the businesses supply chain has minimal interruption by building up information on backup suppliers.

9.   Ensure job descriptions are up to date and ready to release to temporary and interim recruitment providers.

For information about Gabriel & James visit their website at: http://www.gabrielandjames.com

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