If there is one other agenda competing for top spot in the media lime light at the moment, it’s the rapid spread of swine flu.

It is predicted that by September, the illness will be keeping one in eight workers at home instead of at work.

So, how can you prepare your business should the worst happen and swine flu find its way into your business?

What Are The Symptoms?

The problem with swine flu is that it is almost indistinguishable from the symptoms of a common cold, or seasonal flu. If one of your employees has it, they will likely have a fever, sore throat, aches and a feeling of cold or fatigue.

The illness is spread from person to person via coughing or sneezing.

How Can It Be Prevented?

There are several preventative techniques you can use to stop the spread of swine flu within your company including making sure employees:

• Carry tissues around with them

• Use a clean tissue to cover their mouth and nose if they sneeze

• Throw tissues in the bin after being used once

• Frequent use of hot water and soap, or sanitizer gel

Plan For The Worst Now!

No-one is sure when this new pandemic will reach its peak, so you need to make sure you have a continuity plan in place now, just in case.

Here’s some advice from the Chartered Institute for Personal Development on what you can do:

• Put into place strategies that allow you to maximise the amount of home-working your employees do

•  Look at how you could use things like video linking and teleconferencing in order to limit the amount of face-to-face communication between employees

• If your company deals with customers on a regular basis, perhaps look at increasing online transactions and self-service options for your customers

• Have plans in place so you know how your business will work if you have the minimal number of staff working for you for a period of time

• Identify any essential roles that must be carried out and identify individuals who have a wide range of knowledge and skills that can fulfil these essential tasks

• Make sure contingency procedures are fully developed so that handover can be done smoothly for employees who have to fill in for other colleagues whose roles may not be familiar. This may require extra training and a risk assessment if people are moving to roles where they may be a health and safety risk.

• You may also want to email the Department of Health’s leaflet about swine flu to your employees to ensure they are fully aware of the symptoms and severity of the illness, and what they should do if they think they may be infected.

What Do You Think?

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