but will not protect against airborne transmission, to the extent that the disease may be spread in that manner. Each employer should select the combination of PPE that protects employees in their particular workplace. It should also be noted that wearing PPE may be physically burdensome to employees, particularly when the use of PPE is not common practice for the work task. Educate and train employees about the protective clothing and equipment appropriate to their current duties and the duties which they may be asked to assume when others are absent. Employees may need to be fit tested and trained in the proper use and care of a respirator. Also, it is important to train employees to put on (don) and take off (doff) PPE in the proper order to avoid inadvertent self-contamination (www.osha.gov/SLTC/respiratoryprotection/index.html). During a pandemic, recommendations for PPE use in particular occupations may change, depending on geographic proximity to active cases, updated risk assessments for particular employees, and information on PPE effectiveness in preventing the spread of influenza.
Workplaces Classified at Very High or High
Risk (Caution) for Pandemic Influenza:
What to Do to Protect Employees
If your workplace requires your employees to have contact with people that are known or suspected to be infected with the pandemic virus, there are many practices that can be used to reduce the risk of infection and to protect your employees. Additional guidance for very high and high exposure risk workplaces, such as health care facilities, can be found at: www.pandemicflu.gov and www.osha.gov.
Very high and high exposure risk occupations require employers to address enhanced safety and health precautions in addition to the basic work practices that every workplace should adopt (see page 26). Employers should also be aware that working in a high
