Coughs, sneezes and the progress of diseases

Citation

Pitt, M. (2010), "Coughs, sneezes and the progress of diseases", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 18 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2010.04418aab.001

Coughs, sneezes and the progress of diseases

Article Type: Employment law outlook From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 18, Issue 1

Employers have to ensure under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 that, as far as reasonably practicable, they do not expose their employees to health and safety risks. This clearly extends beyond providing them with a safe environment – it also includes warning them about, and protecting them from, infectious diseases such as swine flu.

You can easily provide employees who have e-mail access with links to the latest information and advice on Government web sites. For employees without e-mail access, put up posters setting out current advice and reiterating the need for staff to follow basic hygiene procedures.

Consider if there are any workplace practices you can change to cut the risk of infection spreading. Could you, for example, reduce business travel or allow more employees to work from home, so that fewer employees have to share confined spaces with others?

You should also plan for the impact that any outbreak may have on your business. Do you, for example, need to train back-up employees to cover key functions? Do you have alternative companies lined up in case one of your main suppliers is badly affected? Who would you include on any crisis team, if one became necessary?

In advance of any threat, it may be a good idea to send employees a memorandum outlining any changes to current practices and procedures you may have to adopt in the event of an emergency.

Of course, if any of your own employees show the symptoms of a virus, urge them to seek medical advice straight away and to stay away from work until they have completely recovered.

If, despite your best efforts, a large proportion of your workforce comes down with a virus, you may have shut the business completely for a while. It may, therefore, be worth considering whether you need to include a force majeure clause in your key contracts with other organizations.

This could enable you to avoid liability for breaching your contractual obligations for the duration of an outbreak that it is beyond your control. Careful drafting to ensure that the clause is reasonable and fair will be essential, so I advise you to seek legal advice about this.

By taking immediate steps to keep your people informed about the risk of infection and the contingency plans you will implement, you should continue to reap the benefits of good relationships with your workforce and clients.

A report entitled A Decade of Living Dangerously, by the Chartered Management Institute and supported by the Cabinet Office, showed that 52 percent of organizations across the UK had a business-continuity plan – the highest level recorded in the ten years that an annual business-continuity survey has been carried out. However, the percentage of managers reporting that continuity was regarded as important in their organization fell over the 12 months, from 76 percent to 64 percent.

Electronic attack (58 percent) and human disease (57 percent) represented their two greatest concerns. But despite recognizing the threat posed by diseases such as influenza, 53 percent of organizations still had no plans to help them to cope during a pandemic.

Over the previous year, 40 percent of organizations suffered disruption through a loss of information technology. Other key sources of disruption were extreme weather, loss of people, loss of telecommunications and utility outages.

While firms are not breaking the law by not having a business-continuity plan in place, a wealth of research shows that organizations that plan for emergencies tend to suffer less severely from the initial impact and recover more quickly from the subsequent disruption.

Mike PittEmployment-law partner at UK solicitor Pearson Hinchliffe Commercial Law. He can be contacted by e-mailing michael.pitt@pearson-hinchlif.co.uk or by telephoning +44 (0)161 785 3500