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With the Zika virus making inroads into the United States, Katherine Harmon, Director of Health Intelligence at iJet says corporations can take these five steps to ensure the safety of their workforce in the likely event the virus becomes prevalent.
For example, financial executives should incorporate Zika into their existing business continuity plans (BCP) by taking several important measures, including:
- Having a flexible and agile “Pandemic Plan” that is not just about the flu,
- Adjusting travel to consider outbreak areas, and
- Considering both the short and long term consequences of Zika. These may include a symptomatic employee being out from three to seven days vs. a lifetime of care for a microcephalic infant whose medical bills are catastrophic and whose parent may need to resign to care for the child).
Senior management should also consider incorporating Infectious Disease Policies that set the expectation ill employees will not present to work to infect co-workers if they are contagious.
The top five proactive measures senior management can take to protect their employees from Zika include:
- Educate your employees – provide fact sheets, educational videos, etc. on prevention, mitigation, and information about the virus
- Where applicable, eliminate potential breeding grounds for mosquito larvae by cleaning standing water, reducing litter/trash, using mosquito “dunks” (bacteria safe for the environment but not for mosquitoes) in large areas of standing water that cannot be removed (such as retaining ponds, fountains, etc.), ensuring landscaping removes leaves that can hold water, inspecting windows and doors for gaps, keeping air circulating, and having mosquito treatments applied to the grounds as necessary
- Counsel “at risk” employees who will travel to Zika-outbreak areas and offer travel deferral for high-risk employees (pregnant women or women who are unsure). CEOs need to be careful, however, as although there is a risk stratification medically, all employees legally must be treated equally. For instance, a woman who wants IVF in a month should not have precedence over a male with a pregnant wife when it comes to travel.
- Call together the corporate “crisis team” in advance in accordance with the BCP to decide on proactive measures and communication, especially in high-risk areas. Team members typically include HR, legal, PR, C-suite, health and safety, and risk managers (travel, security, etc.). Topics such as “How to deal with travel refusal by an employee,” “Corporate travel policy for going to a high risk area,” “Can this be considered worker’s comp?,” should be decided before being presented with a dilemma. The more these decisions are socialized with employees, the more comfortable they will feel.
- Have a connection with a travel health specialist or someone well versed in emerging diseases who they can turn to, as well as employees can see in advance of their trip, for individual questions.
By enlisting the help of medical experts, monitoring Zika outbreaks and taking active preventative measures, financial leaders can help mitigate direct Zika risks as well as the effects of employee concerns.