By Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 19 June 2009 2118 hrs
Temperature screening at Singapore hospital
SINGAPORE: Companies could do well to start making contingency plans to deal with staff contracting Influenza A (H1N1), if they have not done so already.
The Health Ministry said some recent imported H1N1 cases had engaged in extensive community activities like going to work or shopping.
While the Health Ministry's current practice is to quarantine only confirmed cases in hospital, at least one organisation here is taking added precaution.
It has made it mandatory for staffs who have travelled to affected countries to home quarantine themselves, even if they do not show any symptoms of the virus.
The current Health Ministry guideline on Influenza A (H1N1) is quite clear. If you've just come back from a country that is close to or has sustained H1N1 community transmission, do not engage in mass activities, come forward for screening and isolation, but only when you develop flu-like symptoms.
The problem with the H1N1 virus is that in some victims, there are hardly any symptoms like fever.
Organisations Channel NewsAsia contacted all follow the ministry's guideline.
The Nanyang Technological University, for example, requires staffs who have come back from affected countries to conduct self temperature checks for seven days upon return.
But one organisation has gone a step further.
Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) has asked staff to stay away from work for seven days upon return from an affected country, even if the employee is well.
An over-reaction, perhaps? Not quite, it said.
SHRI's executive director, David Ang, said: "Let's take the precaution, because we do not know very much about this disease and we do not want to take that additional risk of having our other fellow colleagues being affected by the disease and therefore it will create a chain reaction."
He said the cost of a single staff member infecting the rest of his colleagues far outweighs whatever business continuity plan a company needs to put in place.
And here's another enlightened HR approach - its staff do not need to use their personal leave should they ever need to be quarantined.
Mr Ang said: "Employees who have very limited amount of leave, we try to see how we can save the leave entitlement or the consumption of such leave and see to what extent we can organise our work so that he or she can work from home."
Programme coordinator Elaine Lau, 34, was one such employee who benefited from the seven-day free pass after returning from Hong Kong.
She spent seven days at home after coming back from Hong Kong when the first H1N1 case was discovered there in April.
She said: "I'm quite fortunate, because my company does not deduct my leave and let us have the flexibility to work from home."
Another SHRI employee is currently on the seven-day free pass after returning from Australia.
Different companies have different policies.
Many of those Channel NewsAsia spoke to said they require their staff to use their own personal leave to offset the quarantine period, if they travel to affected countries.
Some companies, though, would allow staff to use their hospitalisation leave if the travel was for business.
A recent survey released by HR consultants Mercer said that despite the threat of the H1N1 virus, nearly half of the more than 400 companies polled worldwide said they do not have proper HR policies for health-related emergencies.
In Singapore, SHRI has conducted a sharing session with some 70 HR representatives from local companies and multi-national organisations on how to deal with H1N1.
Mr Ang said areas HR practitioners have to be mindful of include assuring staff that they will be taken care of, increasing insurance coverage and setting guidelines for work-related travel.
Another session on business continuity plans will be conducted soon.
- CNA/ir
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
Temperature screening at Singapore hospital SINGAPORE: Companies could do well to start making contingency plans to deal with staff contracting Influenza A (H1N1), if they have not done so already.
The Health Ministry said some recent imported H1N1 cases had engaged in extensive community activities like going to work or shopping.
While the Health Ministry's current practice is to quarantine only confirmed cases in hospital, at least one organisation here is taking added precaution.
It has made it mandatory for staffs who have travelled to affected countries to home quarantine themselves, even if they do not show any symptoms of the virus.
The current Health Ministry guideline on Influenza A (H1N1) is quite clear. If you've just come back from a country that is close to or has sustained H1N1 community transmission, do not engage in mass activities, come forward for screening and isolation, but only when you develop flu-like symptoms.
The problem with the H1N1 virus is that in some victims, there are hardly any symptoms like fever.
Organisations Channel NewsAsia contacted all follow the ministry's guideline.
The Nanyang Technological University, for example, requires staffs who have come back from affected countries to conduct self temperature checks for seven days upon return.
But one organisation has gone a step further.
Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) has asked staff to stay away from work for seven days upon return from an affected country, even if the employee is well.
An over-reaction, perhaps? Not quite, it said.
SHRI's executive director, David Ang, said: "Let's take the precaution, because we do not know very much about this disease and we do not want to take that additional risk of having our other fellow colleagues being affected by the disease and therefore it will create a chain reaction."
He said the cost of a single staff member infecting the rest of his colleagues far outweighs whatever business continuity plan a company needs to put in place.
And here's another enlightened HR approach - its staff do not need to use their personal leave should they ever need to be quarantined.
Mr Ang said: "Employees who have very limited amount of leave, we try to see how we can save the leave entitlement or the consumption of such leave and see to what extent we can organise our work so that he or she can work from home."
Programme coordinator Elaine Lau, 34, was one such employee who benefited from the seven-day free pass after returning from Hong Kong.
She spent seven days at home after coming back from Hong Kong when the first H1N1 case was discovered there in April.
She said: "I'm quite fortunate, because my company does not deduct my leave and let us have the flexibility to work from home."
Another SHRI employee is currently on the seven-day free pass after returning from Australia.
Different companies have different policies.
Many of those Channel NewsAsia spoke to said they require their staff to use their own personal leave to offset the quarantine period, if they travel to affected countries.
Some companies, though, would allow staff to use their hospitalisation leave if the travel was for business.
A recent survey released by HR consultants Mercer said that despite the threat of the H1N1 virus, nearly half of the more than 400 companies polled worldwide said they do not have proper HR policies for health-related emergencies.
In Singapore, SHRI has conducted a sharing session with some 70 HR representatives from local companies and multi-national organisations on how to deal with H1N1.
Mr Ang said areas HR practitioners have to be mindful of include assuring staff that they will be taken care of, increasing insurance coverage and setting guidelines for work-related travel.
Another session on business continuity plans will be conducted soon.
- CNA/ir
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
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