H1N1 protocols ease shutdown at the Small Business Administration

Earlier this week, the Small Business Administration was confronted with two cases of H1N1 and how to respond.

Joe Zepecki, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Communications and Public Liason for the SBA, told FederalNewsRadio the two cases presented two different scenarios with two different responses.

At the DC headquarters, SBA evaluated the employee's workstation, and because it was a "relatively contained space", after notifying public health, the employee's department was shut down, employees left early, and the are was scrubbed down.

In the SBA's loan processing facility in Herndon, Virginia, however, because the infected employee has "roles and responsibilities throughout that facility", the entire facility was shut down and cleaned.

"Our response," to each incident, said Zepecki, "really speaks to the advice we've been giving small businesses and, in fact, that the federal government has been giving businesses across the country. Every workplace is unique, and therefore every workplace needs to have a plan in place."

Zepecki said the SBA's top two goals for dealing with H1N1 were met: protect employees and families, and provide support to the small businesses of the country.

"We're confident that everything we've done, from before we had employees affected, with things like hand sanitizer, promoting even just the simple things you can do like sneezing in your sleeve, have mitigated the effects of H1N1, and we'll continue to monitor all of our employees and continue to act accordingly, in accordance with our plans."