Required H1N1 Exposure Control Plans

All districts and all schools in the province are required to have current and effective Exposure Control Plans (ECP) in place, particularly in light of the H1N1 pandemic. BCPSEA has given direction to school boards regarding what is required by the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.

For an ECP to be considered effective:
· The ECP must be written and available for review;
· The ECP must be distributed to all staff;
· The ECP must be communicated to all staff;
· Staff must be trained on the requirements and procedures of the ECP; and
· The employer must ensure the ECP is functioning as intended.

The plan has been updated to reflect the current understanding of H1N1 and recommendations by WorkSafeBC.

Facts About H1N1 Influenza

Symptoms
Seasonal flu affects people to varying degrees, with symptoms including headache, fever, fatigue, sore throat, and runny nose. In some cases, secondary infections such as pneumonia may develop. Symptoms of H1N1 influenza are likely to include high fever (higher than 38°C) and a cough.

Transmission

The BC Centre for Disease Control advises that influenza is communicable for 24 hours before the onset of symptoms and 3–5 days afterward (this may be longer in some children and some adults). H1N1 influenza is spread in the same way that seasonal influenza is spread.

Responsibilities (Staff and Students)

Stay home when you’re sick or have influenza symptoms.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick. If you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick.

Wash your hands.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

Practice other good health habits. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage stress, drink plenty of fluids, eat nutritious foods, and avoid smoking, which may increase the risk of serious consequences if you do contract the flu.

If you have an influenza-like illness, stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them. See a health care provider if your symptoms become worse but call ahead of time to let them know you have an influenza-like illness.

If Staff or Students Show Symptoms of Influenza

If staff or students are ill with influenza, they should stay home. If they develop symptoms of influenza while at school or work, they should leave the school or workplace. Schools should promptly isolate students or staff who become ill with symptoms of influenza while in school in a room/area separate from others with adequate supervision until they can go home.

Schools will follow the protocols in place to notify parents/guardians if their child becomes ill with influenza while at school.

Children who become ill with influenza while at school will be sent home with their parent or guardian and not travel on school buses. If there is no other option and the child must ride a school bus, it is recommended that staff ensure the child sits on a seat by themselves and is able to cover their mouth and nose with a tissue.

Staff and students should only return to school or the workplace once they have recovered from influenza and no longer show symptoms. Staff should inform their manager or supervisor if they are ill with influenza.

Health Monitoring

Staff will promptly report any symptoms of the H1N1 influenza to their manager/supervisor and the first aid attendant.

Private control of water....

FLOW: For Love of Water is a new documentary that takes on the global water crisis. (FLOW stands for “For Love of Water.”)

http://www.agreenerindiana.com/video/flow-for-love-of-water

The movie looks at the real costs of bottled water (and the disclosure that a good portion of bottled water is nothing more than TAP WATER).... and how the public access to water is being controlled more and more by private-for-profit companies like Coke and Pepsi.

Ity is more than well worth watching - and showing your students too!

Excerpts from the interview about the movie:
"IRENA SALINA: FLOW. FLOW is a journey. .... “Who owns water?” .... is water going to be the next oil of the twenty-first century? ..... I ... started exploring pollution, the have and the have-not, who owns water around the world, and as well as what I called transparent pollution, which is things in our water that we absolutely have no idea about it, ....."

"MAUDE BARLOW: ...at the recent Olympics ... in China. Coca-Cola was one of the official sponsors, and you couldn’t bring water, even your own bottled water, in. You had to only—you could only get Coca-Cola water. I would love to know how many bottles of Coke water were thrown away and to add to the pollution in China.

You know, this is part of what I call the movement towards creating a global cartel of water, kind of like we have a global cartel of energy, where, you know, the day may come ... that every drop of water will be spoken for privately by a corporation, whether it’s bottled water, utilities, you know, the service of, delivery of your water, recycling, desalination ... At every phase, water will be corporately owned, because we are a planet running out of fresh, clean water, ....

And if we don’t understand this really soon, we’re going to find that corporations understand it much better than we do. They’re moving in to take control of water. .... Bottled water is where they’re both [Coke and Pepsi] making money now, because there’s a real move by parents in schools against sugar water—you know, pop—and so, they’re saying, OK, well, then the new beverage of choice is bottled water. .... Last year, we put something like 50 billion gallons of water in plastic bottles around the world. Almost all of it, all but about five percent, did not get recycled around the world. ...

...first of all, it’s the corporate takeover of water, and it makes people think that what comes out of their tap doesn’t matter. So you’re not going to be prepared to keep your taxes going for infrastructure repair. And that’s the most important thing, is clean, accessible, safe public water.

Secondly, it’s polluting. Massive amounts of plastic, massive amounts of energy used in the creation and transportation of bottled water, CO2 emissions. And it’s also quite poisonous. I mean, the plastic itself leaks chemicals. People say to me, “Well, I got a great deal at Wal-Mart on my water.” “Why do you think you got a great deal? It’s been sitting there for six months. You should not be drinking it.” ... it’s unregulated. And it’s less safe than your good, clean, safe tap water, which is what needs to be the goal here."

Retiring in December 2009?

All Teachers’ Pension Plan members whose pensions take effect in December 2009. Normally, pension payments are made at the end of each month, but in December this year payments will be processed earlier because of the timing of statutory holidays.

Payments to plan members whose pensions become effective on December 1 this year will be paid on December 23. Therefore, we must receive these members’ completed retirement forms no later than December 14 to allow us time to process their pension payments by December 23. If we receive members’ completed forms after December 14, their first pension payment will be in January at the earliest.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Teachers’ Pension Plan by e-mail at TPP@pensionsbc.ca or by phone at one of the following numbers: 250 953-3022 (in Victoria), 604 660-4088 (in Vancouver) or 1 800 665-6770 (in the rest of BC).

Employee Family Assistance Program news!

Our Cranbrook-based EFAP provider and the FDTA have reached an agreement whereby they will have access to the FDTA back office (on a confidential basis of course) in order to have a place in the Valley to meet with clients in a quiet confidential setting.

You still need to contact the service provider @ 250-417-7296. Now, you don't have to travel to Cranbrook!