Poll Results
Should businesses and schools notify people when cases of H1N1 flu are suspected in their buildings?
| Yes | 715 votes (86%) | |
|---|---|---|
| No | 114 votes (14%) |
Comments
- If there is a potential "killer" on the lose in the workplace, employees should always be notified. If not, the Law Offices of Do-we, Cheatem, & How will eventually find an opening to file a lawsuit against the employer for failing to notify and failure to maintain a safe work environment.
- I can see it now; the Wal-Mart greeter says “Welcome to Wal-Mart, we have 10 employees with swine flu”. I think the schools should alert the parents if there are a significant number of confirmed cases within the school. With that said, why the paranoia for “suspected” cases of swine flu? What will the business notifications accomplish, when you really don’t know where the germs are 100% of the time? How about using some brains and protecting yourself regardless of where you’re at?
- No, they should not. This virus is already getting overhyped and increasing paranoia...telling employees there is a potential case in the building will only cause everyone to go home and not come back for 3 days and the business come to a halt. Businesses should have formal training for employees on how to prevent the spread of illness, the symptoms of H1N1, and have a program that is forgiving of people who call in sick because they may have H1N1. But they should not anounce it company wide.
- The guy from Certainteed (in Williamsport) who died was vastly overweight, however, his lungs filled will fluid so fast he died very quickly. So, if an employee is pregnant and you don't tell her that Jimmy, Josh, and Joe who work beside her all have H1N1 and she dies from it, any lawyer would file (and win) and potential wrongful death lawsuit. If you notify employees of the potential exposure, when they get sick they will seek treatment muck quicker and may save exposure to their loved ones. I understand the problem is overhyped, but I'd rather know whats going on so it is MY choice how to react.
- I can't believe this question was even asked and even more shocked that 29 people think it isn't necessary for the public to know if H1N1 is in the workplace or schools. Schools have sent notes home (for years) telling parents if lice is found in the school or classroom. No one has ever died from lice and we're told. I would be livid if H1N1 (or any other illness) was in my workplace or school and no one notified me.
- We're not talking about schools, schools have already gotten blown out of proportion because the parents demand it. But these are adults in a professional workplace. We're supposed to be responsible for staying home when sick and taking precautions. Seems to me a persons health is in fact not the employers or coworkers business. Maybe we should be told the person next to us has HIV? What about regular flu...that's more deadly to someone who's immunocompromised? But we're not supposed to know who is immunocompromised...so it would be descrimination to change anything around those people. This is not a workplace responsibility...you'd be yelling fire in a theatre because people like whoreallycares would run and lock themselves in a room for the next week while they build a lawsuit on why it was let in the doors to begin with...even if no one got infected.
- bnfsrg, you make a logical point. However, I would contend that those people who go seek treatment probably don't need it and will take resources from those who do. When the email comes out that Bob on the 5th floor MIGHT have H1N1, then 40 employees from each of the other floor go to the ER and get the vaccine and take up doctors time when there is no real danger, others are neglected, or will not have vaccine available when they NEED it. There are certain groups that need to be wary, but the media already has every person thinking they're the next victim, and that fear will erupt as soon as you overreact.
- WVOtter: An employee at my company got the H1N1 (as did her entire family). Management notified all employees and everybody still came to work, as usual. The sick lady stayed home for a week to recover-it was no big deal and there was no loss in productivity. Again, we should empower employees to make informed choices about the situation and expect everybody to act in a reasonable manner. Lawyers will be licking their chops if we do otherwise.
- Doctors do not test patients for this because it costs quite a bit. You are opening businesses and schools up for lawsuits if you think they should all inform everyone who has what. Individual privacy is also important. Be careful what you wish for and ask for because legally you may be opening up a can of worms. As long as this swine flu is killing less people then the regular flu I would be careful what you think businesses and schools should be required to report.
- While I think that people should be informed of illnesses in schools, you have to be sure the cases are actually H1N1 and not a common cold or other illness. Some parents may fear that their child will be stigmatized or shunned by their classmates as something "unclean" or different from others if they are diagnosed with the flu. Many young children and some immature adults can be very cruel about such things.
- JRN: If you tell, or don't tell, employees the lawyers will file lawsuits because there would be opportunity. OSHA should just tell employers how they should handle the situation and bar lawsuits accordingly so there is NO confusion or expectations. Where is the leadership on this? I don't want to be shaking hands with a person suffering from Pink-Eye or H1N1.
- bnfsrg: if your story/timeline is as you say, I stand corrected. However, I have also seen people cancel long standing family vacations because of the slight chance of it on the plane and people rearrange their lives around the fear. Perhaps there aren't as many gunshy folks out there as I believe, but still think it's not the employers place. Perhaps lawyers are the problem? I can see the actionable part if someone gets sick when not notified...I also see the discrimination suit when someone feels like a leper in the workplace. We'll see how things pan out.
- If it is suspected but not confirmed it's rumor don't we have enough rumors and wouldn't HIPA regulations prevent disclosure of the individuals name if it were a confirmed case?How would anyone have legal confirmation of a case if it is confidential?Yes we have had disclosure of cases and people with H1N1 so couldn't someone sue because a law has been broken by making the information public?I feel there is a lot of fear generated by the news media this is not the early 1900 repeated that killed thousands because we are better prepared and more knowledgeable at this time we also have ways to combat the illness.Fear can be as bad as the illness itself and cause undue mental suffering for all.
- The cart just passed by and I distinctly heard "Bring out your dead." I'm going to hang garlic and wolfsbane on the front door and hide under the bed clutching my Book of Common Prayer. Seriously, after reading some of these comments, I don't know which is worse, the flu or the lawyers waiting in the wings.
- Suspected.... No ...... Verified .... Yes
- So we ignore an individual's right to privacy?
- Why do names have to be mentioned? when the letters are sent from school, they don't say "jane Smith" in this 3rd grade class has H1N1. They send letters out saying that "a student" has been infected with the virus. Why can't that be the same with employers?
- There could be a considerable delay in notification of anyone because testing needs to be done on a particular patient to know if the person has H1N1 or a regular seasonal flu. By the time a person realizes that he or she has the flu, the damage in terms of infecting others may already be done. Is H1N1 infectious before symptoms set in? If so, others will already have been infected. If a case is confirmed, there would be no need to make public the victim's identity. All that would need to be known is that it was H1N1 and to know where that person worked so as to alert those likely to have been exposed. The Health Dept already has procedures for alerting people known to be exposed to infectious diseases. STD's come to mind. The office grapevine works really well too. We would probably all know quickly if a case occurred at our place of employment. Individual privacy rights ought to be secondary to preventing/controlling a pandemic. My right to privacy ends when it exercising it may cause the death of others.
- mountaingirl; real world anominity doesn't exist. When "Jane Smith" complains of feeling ill, then misses 3 days of work, then the memo comes out that an employee has contracted H1N1; it doesn't take the brightest bulb to connect the dots.
- I guess that would also depend on how big the company is. If they sent a letter out at 1st Data, for example, I'm sure they could keep the anonomity of the person in most of the buildings. But, if they sent a letter out at Valley Market, then I am sure everyone would know who it is.
- According to the CDC: "Studies show that most healthy adults may be able to infect others from 1 day prior to becoming sick and for 5-7 days after they first develop symptoms. Some young children and people with weakened immune systems may be contagious for longer than a week." When we combine the infectious period with the period required to confirm the diagnosis, it all makes the notification issue much less important than promoting the strategy of prevention through being inoculated with the H1N1 flu vaccine. Notification is a case of too little, too late. A person has probably already been infectd and will have to take their chances with the illness.
- Office/Building gossip spreads faster than any letter that would be composed, spelled checked, proof read, and distributed to the employees. In fact, I have seen gossip spread from one department to another in minutes - remember, most offices use inter office e-mails. One pulls up the group name and wham everyone knows everyones business, without e-mail, word of mouth is still working just as strong. A basic hang nail heads you to the bathroom, everyone in the office is wondering where you went - and the speculation starts and the word gets out your finger was bleeding and you went to the bathroom. Someone always follows behind to get a glimpse of your escape and heads back to report your mission.
- I voted "NO" and once again I find that the majority are not quite as smart as I am.What part of "suspected" do you not understand?Then there is the not so small point that probably every business and every school has already had people in the buildings with actual (not suspected) H1N1 flu.This is a fact of life sort of like 'some people have STDs so don't have promiscuous sex.'Apparently the only thing that will satisfy the majority is that all businesses and all schools notify "people" that there have been at least one "suspected" case of H!N! in the buildings.Seems like a waste of time and resources to me but what good is common sense in Wuss County?
- Each individual can take steps to help insure they will not get the swine flu. Of course washing hands is something a lot of people do not do. You will also give people a false sense of security if they think that unless there is a reported case then they dont have to worry. Everyone, you do realize you can get it just as easy going to the store and get it in many other ways, right? We like to think we can protect ourselves from absolutely everything and we allow ourselves to panic about everything. Relax... I would worry much more about the "Dollar" becoming worthless as we continue to spend mindlessly and print money like it is monopoly money.
- I understand the right to privacy. But when your health can make others sick (or kill them) it should become public knowledge to those that have come in contact with the sick person. Example: A person with ADIS has sex with different people but doesn't tell them they have AIDS. The other person finds out after they get AIDS and sues the other person for not telling them. This has happened. I recently found out a person at a restaurant I go to has MERSA. They handle my cup, plate,... Wouldn't you love to come down with MERSA by someone that handles your food? But hey, I guess that isn't a customer's business.
- whoreallycares. A. You're AIDS analogy is faulty because it involves the ill person revealing their illness...not an employer. An employer would be screwed if they sent out a memo saying Joe down the hall has AIDS. Again, it's the persons responsibility, not the companies. B. That assumes infection, not suspected infection. C. The MRSA example is too specific and was handled wrong if it was as you mention. No infectious disease should be tolerated in a food service company and the worker should have been removed until healthy. They never should have gotten to the point of handling the food. Therefore, there shouldn't have been a need to tell the rest of the staff and customers. If you're going to live your life around fear of an overhyped virus, wear a useless mask and carry a gallon of hand sanitizer...but a majority of us would like to continue with common sense and respect for others privacy.
- Let's say I get H1N1 flu symptoms on Saturday, get tested on Sunday and want to return to work on Monday because I need the money, however, I choose not to tell coworkers I'm infectious. Later, a pregnant (or overweight) coworker contracts the H1N1 from me and just thinks it's the regular flu and does not seek medical treatment and quickly dies. Was it an ethical decision on my part to work with H1N1 and was it ethical not to tell my coworkers I'm infected? My answer is "NO". In fact, I won't be surprised if a situation like this could not create involuntary manslaughter charges like prosecutors can do with AIDS infections.
- Again, the CDC or HHS should be telling employeers how to handle disclosure. The reason there is no leadership on this issue is so the lawyers will win, not the general public. Good people will disagree on how this situation should be handled, but our debate is over leadership failure.
- Sad isn't that we must think about the legality of everything. I still think privacy must be respected. You simply can not be protected from everything and we can not live in little bubbles. Be careful of asking govt to step in and dictate to businesses what they should do. We all have individual responsibilities and can do things to protect ourselves. Let's stop always saying "they" should take care of it. Wash your hands frequently, take ownership!
- bnfsrg, with that analogy, does that mean that everyone who is a confirmed case of swine flu, should announce they have it as they exit or depart the doctor’s office or ER? Just saying…
- I am so glade we have so many doctors and nurses posting on this subjuct. Their lack of knowledge is truly remarkable! First, if you go the CDC web site you willearn enough information to write your own workplace policy (should probably already have one!). Second, if you get the seasonal flu shot and are showing some signs wear a mask. Third, if you did not get the seasonal flu shot and are showing signs stay at home. Fourth, if and when H1N1 becomes available and your in the high risk group get the shot. Most people will get some sort of the flu and will be OK in 3-5 days. But the high risk group could seriously become ill or die. There is no reason to tell anyone about their health conditions. Does anybody remember HIPPA?? It is against the law to give out personal helath information unless you are authorized to get it. If people would wash their hands, cover their mouth when they cough this would not nearly be the problem it is. And this is not a political issue!
- Well bob, had to happen sooner or later we would agree on something. By the way everyone who is so concerned about getting swine flu, may I assume that none of you goes out to eat ever in a restaurant?? Especially all you can eat places? And everytime you do get something from the buffet that everyone else has had their germs on, do you then bring your food back and wash your hands everytime??
- Working in the private sector is different then the public sector! I don't get sick time where I am employeed, I don't show up for work I don't get paid - it can't be any simpler than that. As far as my bills - no excuses! the bill collector is waiting with his hand out as much as the tax collector. Gosh, a fantasy thought,if only I worked for the government and had the luxury of accumulating sick time and a bunch of vacation days, and personal days. No work means no pay. Unless I am laying in my bed with an iron lung I have to be at work. I think health reform, sick, and vacation reform should be looked at for everyone. I could quit my job and live off the government and be sick and stay home - the government will pay my bills - ROFLBO. As long as you work where gossip lives - HIPPA is meant to protect who again?
- Even with all that Gibberish, I still fail to see your point penpaperesque. Yes, I knew Kenny the man who died of swine flu. So would answering this question “yes” have saved his life? By the way, it’s not the utilities or landlords responsibility to take care of you, or to suffer should you have a crisis. It’s your job (personal responsibility) to be prepared and have things in order, and to be prepared in case something was to happen to you. Be a responsible adult!!
- JRN/BOB: I see and understand both sides of the argument and there is no easy choice. I'm 100% for "personal responsibility" but this issue is a two-sided argument (your damned if you do and your damned if you don't). Bob, if there is employer CDC policy (and a legal opinion) then I say "good job" to the CDC. However, I hope this policy legally protects the employers whom enact it.
- Chicagobob, Uh huh. And if we would all just keep our tires inflated, we wouldn’t need to import oil either.
- Many so-called government workers are actually contractual employees. They have no benefits, no leave, no health insurance. Contracts are often time limited. Money runs out, job runs out. Got the flu? Sorry, out of luck. Kid sick? Sorry, out of luck.
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Nov 4, 2009 11:20 AM