Planning for a bird flu pandemic

An Australian Exhibitions and Conferences product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 14, 2006

A speaker at the Australian 'Safety In Action' conference will tell businesses to plan now for a bird flu pandemic.

A speaker at the Australian 'Safety In Action' event tells businesses to plan now for a bird flu pandemic.

Imagine an Australia with limited emergency services, with hospitals so full of ill and dying that there is no room for the newly sick.

An Australia where schools and businesses are closed indefinitely, petrol rationing forces cars from the roads and not enough healthy workers are available to keep public transport on the rails.

Surreal and far-fetched as this scenario may seem, it is an indication of what the next influenza pandemic could bring.

At the Safety in Action Conference, to be held from 16 - 18 May 2006 in Melbourne, infection control specialist Alan McLean will discuss how companies can best prepare for and manage the effects of pandemic influenza.

A member of the Australian Infection Control Association who has been extensively involved in the planning for pandemic influenza in South Australia, Mr McLean says the threat posed by a H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu, outbreak in Asia is real.

While no one can predict whether the avian influenza will be the next pandemic, Mr McLean says we are now closer to a pandemic than at any other time in the last 35 years.

Influenza is a highly contagious viral disease.

Spread by droplets from coughing, sneezing and talking, the virus can survive for up to two days on commonly touched surfaces like telephones, door handles, pens and coffee mugs.

Even if sick workers stay at home, containment is difficult because a person can be infected spreading the virus to others for up to 24 hours before symptoms appear.

Because the influenza virus is so easily spread in work environments, absenteeism in the event of a pandemic could be up to 10 times greater than the 4 per cent of the workforce Health Services Australia says is absent from the office on a typical workday.

In fact, the Australian Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza - June 2005 indicates pandemic influenza could make 25 to 40 per cent of the population sick enough to stop working or going to school.

Mr McLean says the extra absences caused by pandemic influenza could last for up to three months, devastating Australian industry as workers struggle to cope with illness, loss of family members and general infrastructure failures such as transport, shopping and communication.

Companies, he says, need to begin preparing immediately to protect staff and maintain services during a pandemic.

At the Safety in Action Conference, Mr McLean will present a range of planning solutions for businesses to employ before, during and after a pandemic.

Some of the topics include identifying a pandemic coordinator or team, preparing for the possibility of employees stranded overseas due to closed borders, and establishing policies for preventing the spread of influenza at the worksite.

Find out how your company can best prepare for an influenza pandemic at The Safety In Action Conference, sponsored by WorkSafe Victoria, from Tuesday 16 to Thursday 18 May 2006 at the Melbourne Convention Centre, while its partner trade show runs concurrently at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.