Holger Wanke
Pandemic plan in practice: Important considerations!
Whether there is a pandemic or not – an emergency plan makes sense. Whether (or hopefully not) such a plan is needed, it can also be used for other, similar situations in the future.
Not panic – but increased, responsible mindfulness.
Above all: we hope that a Pandemic of the A(H1N1) flu will not occur. And we hope that this Trendspot will contribute to raise the awareness of companies and their employees. Only awareness, linked with the resulting correct and responsible behavior in the case of a pandemic can help to reduce the impact of the A(H1N1) we all are afraid of.
What does a company have to consider in the case of a pandemic?
According to article 328 of the Swiss Code of Obligations and article 6 of the Swiss Work Law all companies are liable for the health of their employees. This includes protection against microorganisms such as the A(H1N1) virus. It is important to raise the awareness of employees in the run-up to a possible pandemic. They have to know what they can do to reduce the risk of getting the flu. They also have to know how to behave if they have been in contact with a person that has been infected or if they are showing symptoms of the A(H1N1) flu themselves. As a company we can ask them to wash their hands more often. Furthermore, the company can change from multi-use textile towels to single-use paper towels. The company can also offer disinfectants in its bathrooms and make Swiss ministry of health information materials available to its employees.
If the flu really starts to spread there are further possibilities such as increasing social distance (e.g. no more handshakes, minimal distance of 1m, minimization of direct contact, meetings, etc.) This can also include asking employees to avoid gatherings and / or to use masks while in such gatherings or while using public transport to increase safety for individuals as well as their coworkers.
In these early phases the information materials (posters, tv-ads, etc.) provided on the Swiss Ministry of Health’s homepage – www.bag.admin.ch – can be very useful.
Pandemic plan – what for?
The plan deals first and foremost with the company’s most important tasks, tasks that have to be carried out under any circumstances. The plan sets up rules that make sure that even in the case of 25% or more of the workforce falling ill at the same time, all important tasks can be fulfilled on time. In this sense, such a plan can also serve as a general emergency plan that – once prepared – can be used any time the company’s key functions are at risk.
What does the pandemic plan govern?
The plan defines the tasks that must be carried out under any circumstances. In our case these are, for example, the calculation of payrolls and the preparation of data necessary for paying the wages we are responsible for. If we are not able to carry out these tasks for every single client, our clients’ employees will not get their pay checks on time.
The plan also defines the substitutions within these tasks and the rules that apply in case of emergency. This can mean that if, for example, one person in a three person team gets the flu, the second person continues the work in the office and the third person has to work from home. At the same time, it should cover regulations for extra hours that have to be worked by employees that have not caught the flu. Furthermore, it can rule that already granted holidays can be revoked at short term notice (however, the company must cover the employee’s cancellation costs or already paid travel costs).
How to prepare a pandemic plan?
The easiest way is to use the Swiss Ministry of Health guidelines (only available in German) which you can find in the download section of our homepage in .PDF format.
With these very hands-on guidelines an individual plan for each company can be prepared step by step. Once prepared, the plan can be used as soon as it looks like the key functions of the company could be at risk.
