Guidebook advises small firms on how to prepare for H1N1 flu
 

Guidebook advises small firms on how to prepare for H1N1 flu

Kent Hoover Washington Bureau Chief

The federal government has published a new guidebook designed to help small businesses prepare for an outbreak of the H1N1 flu.

The guidebook urges small businesses to develop a written plan outlining what they will do if employees contract the highly contagious virus and have to stay home. Suggestions include assigning someone to coordinate the business' response to H1N1 flu issues, allowing workers to stay at home if they or their family members have the flu, and making sure other employees will be ready to fill in and assist with the absent employees' jobs.

Small businesses are more vulnerable to disruptions from an H1N1 flu outbreak because of their lean staffs, but they also tend to already train their employees to handle more than one responsibility, said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

"They know how to do more with less," she said.

The Small Business Administration will use its network of 14,000 affiliated counselors to help small businesses prepare for an H1N1 flu outbreak, said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. Preparing for such a disruption "is just another part of good business practices," she said.

"Their employees and customers really want to know they have a plan," Mills said.

Dr. Daniel Jernigan, deputy director of the influenza division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the CDC expects widespread cases of H1N1 flu this fall and winter, but the illness won't be too severe for most individuals. Small businesses, however, also should prepare for a second scenario -- a change in the virus that could make it more severe.

Employees who catch the flu will miss three to five days of work, so businesses should be ready to maintain operations even if many of their workers are absent, he said.

For more information, see www.sba.gov/flu

http://houston.bizjournals.com/extra...1/bureau3.html

Guide from Homeland Security: http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public...e/sba_h1n1.pdf