Companies preparing for H1N1 outbreak Posted on: Thu 29-Oct-2009

Companies such as Ecolab Inc., Medtronic Inc., Target Corp., 3M Co., Best Buy Co. Inc. and U.S. Bancorp. are stocking up on hand sanitizer, creating informational intranet sites for their workers and engaging in contingency planning. They’re letting workers know that it’s OK to stay home if they feel sick. In some cases, they’re even changing their sick-leave policies.

Some experts question whether companies are really doing enough to get ready. The companies themselves say it’s all about smart planning, whether or not the flu hits as hard as some think it will.

“Prepare, and then if the flu season is more dramatic than it’s been in the past, you’re ready and you can deal with it. If it’s not, you’re prepared and, if it comes up again, pull out your preparation plan,” said Ecolab spokeswoman Kathleen Janasz.

The flu was first identified early this year in Mexico, with the first U.S. case reported in April. By June, the World Health Organization signaled that a pandemic, which means a global outbreak, of 2009 H1N1 flu was underway. Now that it’s fall and children are back in school trading sniffles, the flu is expected to spread rapidly, though the illness so far is not as severe as experts originally feared.

Minnesota authorities are expecting 1.5 million state residents to get the virus, with about half experiencing serious enough symptoms that they might go to the doctor. Experts advise businesses to plan for 20 to 40 percent of their workers to be out sick or caring for ill family members at one time.

Luckily, many large corporations had plenty of time to prepare. Because the alarm was first raised in the spring, some have had corporate intranet sites up for months that tell workers how to prevent the spread of the flu in the workplace.

St. Paul-based Ecolab has had a corporate task force in place since spring. Maplewood-based 3M has a pandemic-preparedness plan dating back to the avian flu scare in 2006. Fridley-based Medtronic also dusted off its avian-flu plan and updated it.

An important part of planning involves making sure employees know about the plan.

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Chris Newmarker Staff writer

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