Employers without an emergency preparedness plan to deal with pandemic outbreaks including the H1N1 strain of influenza could end up having serious legal implications, say doctors and lawyers who deal with emergency preparedness.

Government and private sector communication must be improved in order to get better prepared to deal with the anticipated resurgence of the H1N1 pandemic this fall. This was the consensus among emergency as well as health and safety experts at a recent forum on emergency management, hosted by Canadian Occupational Safety in partnership with the Industrial Accident Prevention Association.