Swine flu - prepare for home working, but don't panic
Business and medical experts urge firms not to overreact, but to prepare IT systems for greater remote working
Swine flu? Don't panic
Firms should start to prepare for a potential increase in home working caused by the spread of swine flu - but nobody needs to panic, according to business and medical experts.
British Medical Association GP chairman Dr Laurence Buckman told a web conference hosted by the British Chambers of Commerce today that there is a lot of overreaction to the swine flu epidemic .
"This flu is not very virulent - it's nasty if you get it, but relatively harmless and I don't think the government's prediction of 100,000 cases per day by the end of August is panning out like this at the minute," he said.
"Statistically, 40 per cent [of people] will get it. If they happen all at once, say on a Monday – that would be a problem. I predict there'll be little mini-waves, resulting in hotspots. Businesses not in a hotspot probably won't notice much going on, and won't be affected."
But Buckman recommended that businesses should be thinking about the "next wave" of the virus, which could occur in the autumn.
"Businesses will have a month or two to prepare," he said.
British Chambers of Commerce director general David Frost said best practice in dealing with the issue involves management teams getting their heads together and meeting problems with a measured response, and by thinking ahead.
"[Think about] things like, do you need to make sure emails are changed so that they're bounced forward to email accounts accessible at home?" he said.
Home working should be considered as one potential way for businesses to reduce employees spreading swine flu, said Frost.
"It is feasible for many people to work from home, but for many businesses that have employees working face-to-face with customers, that's not possible," he said.
Sue Hill, the managing director of a small business, said small firms should keep reviewing the situation and watching how it develops.
"We've made the facility for most people to work from home available with virtual private network connections and web mail. It's important that my staff can work from home," she said.
Buckman also criticised some companies' reaction on hygiene, when he said that: "Plain soap and water would be able to get rid of the swine flu virus."
Hill agreed, adding: "We're keeping the hygiene industry in business at the minute."
Buckman also added that a more urgent need than hygiene products was for offices with air-conditioning where firms should be checking that their air filters are working properly.