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Guidance on Preparing Workplaces
for an Influenza Pandemic
OSHA 3327-02N 2007
Employers are responsible
for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees.
OSHA's role is to assure the safety and health of America's employees
by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach
and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual
improvement in workplace safety and health.
This handbook provides a
general overview of a particular topic related to OSHA standards.
It does not alter or determine compliance responsibilities in
OSHA standards or the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
Because interpretations and en-forcement policy may change over
time, you should consult current OSHA administrative interpretations
and decisions by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
and the Courts for additional guidance on OSHA compliance requirements.
This publication is in the
public domain and may be reproduced, fully or partially, without
permission. Source credit is requested but not required.
This guidance
is advisory in nature and informational in content. It is not
a standard or a regulation, and it neither creates new legal
obligations nor alters existing obligations created by OSHA standards
or the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). Pursuant
to the OSH Act, employers must comply with hazard-specific safety
and health standards as issued and enforced either by OSHA or
by an OSHA-approved State Plan. In addition, Section 5(a)(1)
of the OSH Act, the General Duty Clause, requires employers to
provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized
hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Employers
can be cited for violating the General Duty Clause if there is
a recognized hazard and they do not take reasonable steps to
prevent or abate the hazard. However, failure to implement any
recommendations in this guidance is not, in itself, a violation
of the General Duty Clause. Citations can only be based on standards,
regulations, or the General Duty Clause.
In the event
of an influenza pandemic, employers will play a key role in protecting
employees' health and safety as well as in limiting the impact
on the economy and society. Employers will likely experience
employee absences, changes in patterns of commerce and interrupted
supply and delivery schedules. Proper planning will allow employers
in the public and private sectors to better protect their employees
and lessen the impact of a pandemic on society and the economy.
As stated in the President's National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza,
all stakeholders must plan and be prepared.
The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) developed this pandemic
influenza planning guidance based upon traditional infection
control and industrial hygiene practices. It is important to
note that there is currently no pandemic; thus, this guidance
is intended for planning purposes and is not specific to a particular
viral strain. Additional guidance may be needed as an actual
pandemic unfolds and more is known about the characteristics
of the virulence of the virus, disease transmissibility, clinical
manifestation, drug susceptibility, and risks to different age
groups and subpopulations. Employers and employees should use
this planning guidance to help identify risk levels in workplace
settings and appropriate control measures that include good hygiene,
cough etiquette, social distancing, the use of personal protective
equipment, and staying home from work when ill. Up-to-date information
and guidance is available to the public through the www.pandemicflu.gov
website.
The Difference Between
Seasonal, Pandemic Influenza and Avian Influenza
Seasonal
influenza refers to the periodic outbreaks of respiratory illness
in the fall and winter in the United States. Outbreaks are typically
limited; most people have some immunity to the circulating strain
of the virus. A vaccine is prepared in advance of the seasonal
influenza; it is designed to match the influenza viruses most
likely to be circulating in the community. Employees living abroad
and international business travelers should note that other geographic
areas (for example, the Southern Hemisphere) have different influenza
seasons which may require different vaccines.
Pandemic
influenza refers to a worldwide outbreak of influenza among people
when a new strain of the virus emerges that has the ability to
infect humans and to spread from person to person. During the
early phases of an influenza pandemic, people might not have
any natural immunity to the new strain; so the disease would
spread rapidly among the population. A vaccine to protect people
against illness from a pandemic influenza virus may not be widely
available until many months after an influenza pandemic begins.
It is important to emphasize that there currently is no influenza
pandemic. However, pandemics have occurred throughout history
and many scientists believe that it is only a matter of time
before another one occurs. Pandemics can vary in severity from
something that seems simply like a bad flu season to an especially
severe influenza pandemic that could lead to high levels of illness,
death, social disruption and economic loss. It is impossible
to predict when the next pandemic will occur or whether it will
be mild or severe.
Avian influenza
(AI) - also known as the bird flu - is caused by virus that infects
wild birds and domestic poultry. Some forms of the avian influenza
are worse than others. Avian influenza viruses are generally
divided into two groups: low pathogenic avian influenza and highly
pathogenic avian influenza. Low pathogenic avian influenza naturally
occurs in wild birds and can spread to domestic birds. In most
cases, it causes no signs of infection or only minor symptoms
in birds. In general, these low path strains of the virus pose
little threat to human health. Low pathogenic avian influenza
virus H5 and H7 strains have the potential to mutate into highly
pathogenic avian influenza and are, therefore, closely monitored.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza spreads rapidly and has a high
death rate in birds. Highly pathogenic avian influenza of the
H5N1 strain is rapidly spreading in birds in some parts of the
world.
Highly pathogenic
H5N1 is one of the few avian influenza viruses to have crossed
the species barrier to infect humans and it is the most deadly
of those that have crossed the barrier. Most cases of H5N1 influenza
infection in humans have resulted from contact with infected
poultry or surfaces contaminated with secretions/excretions from
infected birds.
As of February
2007, the spread of H5N1 virus from person to person has been
limited to rare, sporadic cases. Nonetheless, because all influenza
viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned
that H5N1 virus one day could be able to sustain human to human
transmission. Because these viruses do not commonly infect humans,
there is little or no immune protection against them in the human
population. If H5N1 virus were to gain the capacity to sustain
transmission from person to person, a pandemic could begin....
To download
a complete copy of the 47 page "Guidance
on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic" in Adobe® pdf format
click on the following link:
Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza
Pandemic
Source: OSHA News Release 2/7/07
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