Swine Flu Hits 26 Health Care Workers

by Mike Hall, May 8, 2009

The H1N1 (swine flu) crisis reminds us that each day, the nation’s front-line health care workers are the foundation upon which our health care system is built. As Jordan Barab, the acting head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), told the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee yesterday:

If they are not able to work due to illness, or unwilling to work due to fears for their health, individual patients and the country’s entire health care structure will suffer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it is currently investigating 26 cases of swine flu in health care workers. The CDC and OSHA have developed guidelines for employers and workers to minimize work-related exposure to the swine flu virus. Click here and here for more information. Also, check out resources for health care workers, educators, firefighters and more at the AFL-CIO’s pandemic flu site.

In April, a report by the AFL-CIO and several unions, including the United American Nurses (UAN), revealed that health care workers are at risk because many of the nation’s health care facilities are not prepared to deal with a pandemic. The committee’s chairman, Rep. George Miller, also said anther recent survey of nearly 200,000 U.S. health care workers found that

57 percent of these workers had not been provided training on pandemic flu. More than half of these workers felt that their facility was not “ready for most things” that could arise in a flu pandemic. And only 33 percent thought that most health care workers would report to work during an actual flu pandemic.

Barab told the panel that while no standard exists to protect workers from airborne transmissible diseases such as the flu, OSHA will enforce what is known as the general duty clause, which requires employers to provide a safe workplace.

It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure these workers have the protection and training they need: when to wear a respirator, what kind of respirator, how to get the respirator fit-tested and wear it properly; when to wear gloves; and how to put on and take off personal protective equipment.

Miguel Antonio Garcia, a registered nurse and AFSCME member in Los Angeles who has been treating patients for the current outbreak, told the committee that OSHA should make its current guidelines for employers and workers mandatory.

Taking such a step would send a clear signal to the public and health care workers that the government is proactive in protecting the workers who need to care for the sick in our communities . Protecting these workers will preserve our surge capacity to treat the infected.

Last month, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) issued a pandemic action plan to promote containment and prevent an outbreak of the swine flu. Click here for more details.

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