Updated at: 01/12/2010 11:31 PM
By: Laura Kennedy
lkennedy@wdio.com

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St. Louis County Wants Businesses Ready For H1N1

There is a fine line between overreacting to a pandemic or disaster and underpreparing for it. That's what public health analyst Jim Gangl told HR managers on Tuesday.

In the case of the H1N1 flu pandemic, Gangl says the biggest areas of debate are adjusting sick leave policies, finding ways to minimize contact between ill workers and healthy ones, and keeping employees informed on the current H1N1 situation.

Linda Olcott from UMD says the college has had an H1N1 plan in place for several months.

"We are an education facility, but we are a business too," said Olcott. "And we need to keep operations running at all times."

Olcott says the most important piece of the plan is communication.

"The more you can communicate the right information, it cuts down on that fear factor," Olcott said. "Because it educates and it gets out the most up-to-date information so people can feel better about the situation around them."

Lynda Nordstrom works for RAM Mutual Insurance in Esko. She says the small company has worked out a lenient sick leave policy and says they've been lucky so far with minimal staffing shortages. But Nordstrom thinks now is the time to get a written plan in place.

"It's easy to talk about it, but you've got to sit down and put it in writing," Nordstrom said. "And like any goal, follow it and educate everybody so we're all working together for a healthy environment."

Some businesses like UMD are giving employees the technology to work from home via teleconferencing. Nordstrom says that's not a bad idea.

"That's something we could certainly think about," she said. "As long as they're set up electronically to work in such a situation, we certainly would consider that."

Gangl also suggested having a plan of action in case an employee becomes ill while at work. Whether that means sending the worker home right away, or moving them to a different part of the building until they are able to leave.