protecting their employees from the influenza pandemic will
depend on emphasizing proper hygiene (disinfecting hands and
surfaces) and practicing social distancing.
Social distancing means reducing the frequency,
proximity, and duration of contact between people (both
employees and customers) to reduce the chances of spreading
pandemic influenza from person-to-person.
All employers should implement good hygiene and
infection control practices. Occupational safety and health
professionals use a framework called the “hierarchy of controls”
to select ways of dealing with workplace hazards. The hierarchy
of controls prioritizes intervention strategies based on the
premise that the best way to control a hazard is to
systematically remove it from the workplace, rather than relying
on employees to reduce their exposure.
In the setting of a pandemic, this
hierarchy should be used in concert with current public health
recommendations.
The types of measures that may be used to
protect yourself, your employees, and your customers (listed
from most effective to least effective) are: engineering
controls, administrative controls, work practices, and personal
protective equipment (PPE).
Most employers will use a combination of control
methods. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of
control measure when considering the ease of implementation,
effectiveness, and cost. For example, hygiene and social
distancing can be implemented relatively easily and with little
expense, but this control method requires employees to modify
and maintain their behavior, which may be difficult to sustain.
On the other hand, installing clear plastic
barriers or a drive-through window will be more expensive and
take a longer time to implement, although in the long run may be
more effective at preventing transmission during a pandemic.
Employers must evaluate their particular workplace to develop a
plan for protecting their employees that may combine both
immediate actions as well as
longer
term solutions.
Here is a description of each type of control:
Work Practice and Engineering Controls -
Historically, infection control professionals have relied on
personal protective equipment (for example, surgical masks and
gloves) to serve as a physical barrier in order to prevent the
transmission of an infectious disease from one person to
another.
This reflects the fact that close interactions
with infectious patients is an unavoidable part of many
healthcare occupations. The principles of industrial hygiene
demonstrate that work practice controls and engineering controls
can also serve as barriers to transmission and are less reliant
on employee behavior to provide protection. Work practice
controls are procedures for safe and proper work that are used
to reduce the duration, frequency or intensity of exposure to a
hazard.
When defining safe work practice controls, it is
a good idea to ask your employees for their suggestions, since
they have firsthand experience with the tasks. These controls
should be understood and followed by managers, supervisors
and employees. When work practice controls are insufficient to
protect employees, some employers may also need engineering
controls.
Engineering controls involve making changes to
the work environment to reduce work-related hazards. These types
of controls are preferred over all others because they make
permanent changes that reduce exposure to hazards and do not
rely on employee or customer behavior.
By reducing a hazard in the workplace,
engineering controls can be the most cost-effective solutions
for employers to implement. During a pandemic, engineering
controls may be effective in reducing exposure to some sources
of pandemic influenza and not others. For example, installing
sneeze guards between customers and employees would provide a
barrier to transmission. The use of barrier protections, such as
sneeze guards, is common practice for both infection control and
industrial hygiene.
However, while the installation of sneeze guards
may reduce or prevent transmission between customers and
employees, transmission may still occur
between
coworkers.
Therefore, administrative controls and public
health measures should be implemented along with engineering
controls. Examples of work practice controls include: Providing
resources and a work environment that promotes personal hygiene.
For example, provide tissues, no-touch trash
cans, hand soap, hand sanitizer, disinfectants and disposable
towels for employees to clean their work surfaces. Encouraging
employees to obtain a seasonal influenza vaccine (this helps to
prevent illness from seasonal influenza strains that may
continue to circulate).
Providing employees with up-to-date education
and training on influenza risk factors, protective behaviors,
and instruction on proper behaviors (for example, cough
etiquette and care of personal protective equipment).
Developing policies to minimize contacts between
employees and between employees and clients or customers. More
information about protecting yourself, your coworkers and
employees, and your family can be found at
www.pandemicflu.gov.
