Published: Thursday, September 17, 2009
Swine flu’s return poses tricky issues for Snohomish County business
-
Associated Press
Alician Hudson, an employee in the medical office of the Bayer Corp.’s U.S. headquarters, receives an inoculation for influenza from physicians assistant Tim Grimes in Robinson, Pa., on Friday.
EVERETT — There’s a red pig made of glass sitting on the front counter at Everett Artist’s Supply and Framing.
It’s a reminder. Like many other business owners, Dawn Westmoreland wants her employees to be aware that swine flu is going around again. And Westmoreland doesn’t want it in her art supply shop, or in any of her artist studios.
So there are bottles of hand sanitizer stationed conspicuously around the spaces. There are company-sponsored flu shots. And then there’s the pig — maybe more effective at fighting germs than you’d think.
“We had a string of chickens for the bird flu,” Westmoreland said. “And no one got sick. So we thought, ‘Well, we have to get a pig.’ ”
Businesses are bracing for another bout of swine flu as the bug, formally dubbed the H1N1 influenza virus, spreads across the country.
The virus can be a particularly daunting prospect for businesses. All those handshakes. All those cash exchanges.
Next, all those calls from employees saying they’d better take a sick day.
With that in mind, the federal government issued a warning this week, saying businesses should be prepared to operate without a full staff. That could be hard on small businesses especially, so the warning came with a caveat from Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills.
“For countless small businesses, having even one or two employees out for a few days has the potential to negatively impact operations and their bottom line,” Mills said. “A thoughtful plan will help keep employees and their families healthy, as well as protect small businesses and local economies.”
That means planning for school dismissals and childcare, along with potential health-related directions from government agencies. It might be a good idea to keep people far apart from one another in offices. Employers might consider letting workers telecommute from home.
The preparations are happening elsewhere, too, including not-so-small businesses.
The bird flu scare a few years ago served as a “wake-up call” to the Boeing Co., Snohomish County’s largest employer. The company developed a pandemic plan in case a widespread medical emergency should strike its 159,000 employee work force, which includes 73,600 workers in Washington state.
Boeing will monitor the availability of swine flu vaccinations for its employees, said Kelly Donaghy, emergency preparedness spokeswoman for the company. And the aerospace giant has contingency plans should a large number of workers become ill, including placing available workers in critical programs.
For the meantime, though, “we really are focused on keeping our employees educated” on the flu, its symptoms and preventative steps, Donaghy said.
To some, illness prevention is old hat. Anthony Anton, chief executive of the Washington Restaurant Association, said his group’s members already have an educated work force, bottles upon bottles of bleach water and exacting health codes.
But there’s another issue Anton wonders about. After flu vaccines are distributed to school and hospitals, he’d like to know where businesses will be in line to get the drugs.
“Is it cost-effective, and what does it take to get our employees vaccinated?” he said.
Until that becomes clear, restaurateurs are telling employees the same thing as non-food-service employers.
“When you’re sick, stay home,” Anton said. “You’re not playing hooky. You’re preventing your coworkers from getting sick and taking it home to their families.”
It’s a reminder. Like many other business owners, Dawn Westmoreland wants her employees to be aware that swine flu is going around again. And Westmoreland doesn’t want it in her art supply shop, or in any of her artist studios.
So there are bottles of hand sanitizer stationed conspicuously around the spaces. There are company-sponsored flu shots. And then there’s the pig — maybe more effective at fighting germs than you’d think.
“We had a string of chickens for the bird flu,” Westmoreland said. “And no one got sick. So we thought, ‘Well, we have to get a pig.’ ”
Businesses are bracing for another bout of swine flu as the bug, formally dubbed the H1N1 influenza virus, spreads across the country.
The virus can be a particularly daunting prospect for businesses. All those handshakes. All those cash exchanges.
Next, all those calls from employees saying they’d better take a sick day.
With that in mind, the federal government issued a warning this week, saying businesses should be prepared to operate without a full staff. That could be hard on small businesses especially, so the warning came with a caveat from Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills.
“For countless small businesses, having even one or two employees out for a few days has the potential to negatively impact operations and their bottom line,” Mills said. “A thoughtful plan will help keep employees and their families healthy, as well as protect small businesses and local economies.”
That means planning for school dismissals and childcare, along with potential health-related directions from government agencies. It might be a good idea to keep people far apart from one another in offices. Employers might consider letting workers telecommute from home.
The preparations are happening elsewhere, too, including not-so-small businesses.
The bird flu scare a few years ago served as a “wake-up call” to the Boeing Co., Snohomish County’s largest employer. The company developed a pandemic plan in case a widespread medical emergency should strike its 159,000 employee work force, which includes 73,600 workers in Washington state.
Boeing will monitor the availability of swine flu vaccinations for its employees, said Kelly Donaghy, emergency preparedness spokeswoman for the company. And the aerospace giant has contingency plans should a large number of workers become ill, including placing available workers in critical programs.
For the meantime, though, “we really are focused on keeping our employees educated” on the flu, its symptoms and preventative steps, Donaghy said.
To some, illness prevention is old hat. Anthony Anton, chief executive of the Washington Restaurant Association, said his group’s members already have an educated work force, bottles upon bottles of bleach water and exacting health codes.
But there’s another issue Anton wonders about. After flu vaccines are distributed to school and hospitals, he’d like to know where businesses will be in line to get the drugs.
“Is it cost-effective, and what does it take to get our employees vaccinated?” he said.
Until that becomes clear, restaurateurs are telling employees the same thing as non-food-service employers.
“When you’re sick, stay home,” Anton said. “You’re not playing hooky. You’re preventing your coworkers from getting sick and taking it home to their families.”
Comments
(
