Association of Colleges

Swine Influenza

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Swine (H1N1) Influenza - Advice for Colleges

Swine flu, or swine influenza, is a form of the influenza virus that normally infects pigs. There are many forms of flu, and the different varieties have the ability to exchange genes with one another. The form of flu (H1N1) that originated in Mexico is a genetic mixture of viruses that have been seen in pigs, birds and people. It has been called a swine flu because the overall structure of the virus is of the type that affects pigs.

The World Health Organisation has now moved to Phase 6, which means that ‘swine flu’ is now, technically, a global pandemic.

Latest Guidance Document September 2009

AoC and DIUS/BIS have continued to work closely on managing this issue. The most recent guidance document was issued in September 2009. It is available here:
  BIS/HEBCoN Pandemic Flu Guidance Sept 2009

Earlier, on 31 July 2009, BIS issued an update to its guidance. This update is in Q&A format and covers:

  • What advice should I give to staff and students?
  • What should we consider in our business continuity plan?
  • Who makes the decision about whether we should close or scale down our operations?
  • How will we know when to take further action?
  • What about students with special needs?
  • What about international students?
  • How should we engage with the students’ union?
  • How should we prepare for the start of the new academic year in September?
  • There has been some discussion in the press about schools being advised to close during a pandemic. Would Higher and Further Education Institutions be advised to close?
  • What further guidance is available?
  • Who should I contact if I have other questions?
    Swine Flu - Information and Advice for FE and HE 31 July 2009

The earlier, June 2009, DIUS guidance is still available, for reference. It includes information on:

  • Implications for the UK - number of cases reported, likely lull over the summer, followed by a surge in the autumn. 
  • Implications for Colleges - including advice for staff and students displaying symptoms.
  • A number of links for further information.
  • Advice on what a College should do
    • keeping staff and students informed
    • how to reduce risk of infection (now being backed up by national TV advertising)
    • consider measures to help students with learning difficulties, international students and others
    • managing media attention
    • a recommendation to revisit contingency plans and make sure that they cover a number of key areas of impact that swine flu could have (this supplements advice given in AoC H&S Briefing 07/09)
  • The advice document can be downloaded here:
     Swine Flu - Information and Advice from DIUS

Background

Much work has already been done in preparation for Pandemic Flu as part of wider contingency planning.  AoC and member Colleges have been involved in the preparation of sector-specific Pandemic Flu guidance.
AoC H&S Briefings 3/06, 12/06 and 12/07 include background and links to the guidance.

It is also available on the Teachernet website:

Guidance for FE Colleges 
This guidance document has been developed to help College principals and senior managers to plan and prepare for pandemic flu by offering a sector-specific perspective.

Model Pandemic Flu plan for FE Colleges 
This Checklist is designed to accompany the DfES Pandemic Guidance to FE Colleges. It is intended to help your college to plan now for the possibility of a pandemic by developing or adapting existing contingency plans.

"Decontamination"

A member College has contacted AoC after it was approached by a commercial organisation, offering a "decontamination" service in the case of swine flu affecting any of its staff or students. The College wanted information on the effectiveness of such a service and whether it should be planning for it, in terms of the substantial cost etc.

AoC has now received a statement from Justin McCracken, Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency who states:

"Thank you for your e-mail and for sending the Rentokil advertisement. Environmental cleaning has been the subject of considerable dialogue amongst representatives of various government departments, their stakeholders, Cabinet Office and the HPA. The approach taken by Rentokil seems unnecessarily alarmist and gives a certain urgency to the situation which is not justified in practice.  The notion that one of their squads can come in and render an area “flu-free” in a meaningful way is implausible.  It could also give rise to complacency as the environment could be easily re-contaminated by an infectious person that did not practice proper respiratory and hand hygiene.  The current measures outlined in the guidance for businesses are practical and proportionate to the risk and are recommended to you and your colleagues."

The full text of Justin McCracken's message can be read here:
  Swine Flu "decontamination" - advice from HPA

Other Resources

The BBC website holds general information, news and key stories including:

More background information, including numbers of cases, by country, is available from Wikipedia

Queries and Comments 

For health & safety issues, please contact AoC’s Health & Safety Consultant, Stephen Green by email or by phoning 020 7034 9900.

For employment advice, please contact:

The Employment Team at the Association of Colleges by email or by phoning on 020 7034 9900.