Posted By Helen We are currently importing goods from China and Hong Kong - where the SARS virus is prevalent. I have heard that a number of organisations are putting systems in place to deal with this type of situation. I have read on several web sites that the virus can only be transported through water vapours and droplets, however, i feel i need more advice if there is anybody out there that can help me: Do we need to do anything to the goods when they arrive just in case the virus is in/outside the packaging?

Posted By Ken Urquhart Helen, Hello and greetings from Hong kong. I am a long time IOSH member and currently live and work in Hong Kong. Let me first assure you and other forum readers that we are not all going about here in abject terror. True there is concern but it is tempered with caution and considertion. We review every day the status of ourselves, and our personnel. I am involved on a large Construction Project and there are some 3000 of us daily in the workplace and interfacing with each other. We all live in different areas of this congested city and travel by both public and private transport. Since SARS Atypical pneumonia originated and became known we have I am pleased to say had NO cases amongst the daily work community that we are involved with. Equally we have not to date had anybody who has been identified, reported or having travelled in surrounding Asia who has presented with Signs or Symptoms, or who has knowingly had association with a confirmed infected person. So what are we doing. Well, firstly not panicking. Second each day we review the current conditions known across HK from the media and the various web sites and Government Departments and agencies that have and continually put out appropriate information. The sites that I suggest that you look at are. The World Health Organisation. http://www.who.int/en/ The Hong Kong Government Department of Health http://www.info.gov.hk/dh/ The Hong kong Government index web site. Here you will find two icons on the lower part of the page. One is News and one is Atypical pneumonia. Click on either of these for daily updates. The site is: http://www.info.gov.hk/eindex.htm You can also try the UK dept of health and as has alredy been suggested to you the foreign and commonwealth office. The spread of SARS is still i am afraid not relly fully understood or identified. That is why the WHO are exerting so much interest in it. As you said in your posting it is generally thought that it is spred by doplets, from cough, sneeze and close personal contact. However there have been some recent spreads in groups in some communities where this aspect is thought not to be the sole spreader. Other issues such as Rodents, Cockroaches, human faeces and excretia, Sewerage systems etc are all being explored. It is still also not clear how long the bacteria stays active once out in the droplets either on fixtures and fitments or in the air but it is thought to be no more than 3 hours. As regrds goods and packaging, lots of daily goods purchased in HK are packaged locally and handled locally including foodstuffs etc and there are no reports that anyone confirme with SARS has to date got the infection from materials or packaging so it is unlikely that that will be an issue for you. Most of those infected are directly affected fom exposure to Health Workers or there immediate relatives or family who have visited relatives in hospital. Generally high standards of personal hygiene and sensible and sanitary behaviour seems to contribute much to minimising the potential for the illness. Certainly peoples personal behavioural standards in some parts of HK and some categories in the various socio economic levels of HK society have changed (for the better) considerably. The local advice is Clean, use bleach. Fresh air, Helahty diet, Exercise, keep away from crowded areas, (Not easy in a small crowded place like HK), Get plenty of rest etc. There is much more that I could add and send you or anyone else. feel free to e-mail me at: kenurquhart@pccw.com Hope this is of some help and reassurance to you. kind regards. ken Urquhart

Posted By Robert K Lewis I caught an item on Radio 4 News this AM that stated the virus is a derivative of the common cold. This may well suggest that a carrier needs to be involved and the virus is unlikely to survive for prolonged periods outside a host. The WHO as Ken says are providing significant information on their website and we shall see what occurrs Bob

Posted By Ken Urquhart For information of Forum Readers: The SARS situation continues here in Asia and the Far East. The intention of these notes is Not to cause Fear or Panic, they are rather to raise awreness of some of the aspects that the SARS illness and community conditon creates. To show how some of the issues relate/could relate to Health, Safety and Environmental issues that colleague Practitioners and there Managements around the world should be aware of for the running of there businesses. Business/Commerce/Organisations where International travel is regular and routine for some should seriously monitor the situation and review or define Travel policy in the light of current information. Hong Kong Note: As of Monday 14th April 2003 persons leaving Hong Kong by Air and observed to be displaying symptoms that might be SARS - Temperature; Fever; Cough; Sore throat; Flu like etc will be compuulsorily Quarantined for 10 days, (In there own Homes if residents) to determine whether or not they have SARS. The situation is changing daily and those who have made mention on this pages postings of travel to other Asian countries should check daily those destinations for there requirements. e.g. If you arrive in Singapore and appear to be displaying what could be SARS symptoms you will be quarantined immediately by the authorities for 10 days. If you go to Thailand and you have travelled from a country where SARS exists then you will be required to wear a respiratory mask (Like a N95 or a Surgical Mask - default, 6 months in prison) If you are travelling - Check out that you have appropriate and sufficient Sickness/illness Insurance cover. "SARS" - "Atypical pneumonia" (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) UK sites and links: The Health Protection Agency www.phls.org.uk/default.htm CPHL is the national reference centre for medical microbiology in the UK. CPHLprovides specialist expertise and advice to the Regional PHLS laboratories, NHS hospital laboratories, consultants in communicable disease control, community and hospital physicians, environmental health officers, government and industry. Tel: +44 (0)20 8200 1295 Fax: +44 (0)20 8358 3130, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5DF www.doh.gov.uk/traveladvice/emerg.htm www.fco.gov.uk www.britishconsulate.org.hk/ www.bbc.co.uk Then on the left side of the front page click on health. The BBC site also gives some good local and International link sites. International sites and links: www.who.int/en/ www.info.gov.hk/eindex.htm then click on either of the icons shown as NEWS or Atypical pneumonia. Previous respondents have said that the virus is linked to the Common Cold. Yes it is, in fact that has just been confirmed. (See the BBC news site under Health) However it is a totally new VIRUS. There is currently NO vaccine for it. The efforts of the World Health Organsisation, The Governments and the Health Departments of affected countries and the World Community of Public Health Laboratories that work together to identify and provide information for bacteria, viruses etc is "CONTAINMENT" and find/develop a vaccine. The illness is placing a tremendous pressure on the Health and Hospital systems of the countries where SARS exists. Front line Health Workers are amongst the highest exposed and affected group, followed by members of there families. Others who live in areas where these Health Worker personnel live have also become infected. There are Health and Safety implications for the Workplace and for Workpeople from this illness. There is likely to be severe business disruption if the spread is not or cannot be contained. Has your Business/Organisation got a Disaster Plan and is Business Continuity part of that Plan. It is to be hoped that the efforts being made now will contain SARS, that the spread around the World is being contained to the few places currently affected, also that affected places will see a steady fall in the numbers of cases. Consider though: Here in Hong kong currently, to assist the prevention of infection and its spread, personnel who have had exposure to family who are confirmed SARS patients or who are Health Care Workers relatives and who might have been exposed are being requested by Employers and now required by the Government to stay at home for 10 days Quarantine. Colleague Personnel who interfaced/worked alongside these people suddenly consider that they might be at risk and in turn by staying in the workplace could be incubating and could be a source of spread of further infection. Also some of these individuals worry and require counselling. Employers are therefore offering Home Working and Self Quarantine as an option to those staff. If however a large number of your satff go into home Quarantine - Can your Business/Organisation function? Some employers and organisations are managing OK especially where IT and e-commerce prevail (Mobiles and computers from home). However not everybody has Home Broadband like there place of employment, therefore information transfer is extremely slow and difficult in some cases. Whilst the SARS condition prevails, until the method of spread is accurately established, the numbers of cases reduces and we get no more new cases, and hopefully there is a vaccine to supplement the currently used medication treatments, it is suggeted that H&S Practitioner colleagues, especially where there personnel for business or personal holiday requirements - travel or may travel to the affected areas - It is recommended that a daily check out of the many official sites that are giving definitive information be made so that you and your organisation can make appropriate containment and control decisions. A further issue that has arisen here in workplaces has been the urgent need to review and uplift all Facilities Management Standards and personal hygiene and sanitary behaviour issues. Waste collection and disposal is also an area for the review of standards for personal hygiene and control for the personnel who handle and process waste and clening.(Safe disposal of used respiratory masks for example - how long might the water borne droplets that could contain the virus be active?) The cleaning and sanitising of Toilets and washrooms etc., of common areas, lobby's, lift cars, call buttons, grab handrails in public transport, all are just a few examples. Office and workplace welfare areas, pantries, kitchen etc., - cleanliness and control must be reviewed and uplifted. Peoples personal behaviour as regards hygiene and sanitation MUST be uplifted (Much good publicity material on the Hong kong Department of Health web site already on this one, in English and Chinese) I hope that this information is of interest and help. Regards. ken Urquhart

Posted By Merv Newman My sincere thanks to Ken and Allan for their very full information. This is a very good example of why this "chat line" exists. Merv Newman

Posted By Helen thank you all for your informative help. it has put many of our workers minds at rest.