As I sit here on the plane, surrounded by the sounds of sniffling and coughing, all I can think about is H1N1 and how much I don’t want to get it! It’s bad enough I’m trapped in this tight airplane with little leg room but being subjected to everyone’s germs is too much. I’m not a germ-freak, I just don’t like being sick. Does anyone?

Unfortunately, the H1N1 epidemic is here and everyone needs to be prepared. For apartment owner/operators this means implementing risk mitigation strategies and contingency plans centered on outbreak prevention and sustaining operations. These simple steps can help mitigate the financial risk associated with an H1N1 occurrence at your property. What happens if residents cannot work and can’t pay rent? Are you prepared if your leasing staff gets sick? Who will keep your operations going and work on securing new leases? 

After reading multiple H1N1articles, I decided to go straight to the source of the highest quality information on prevention – the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Based on my research, I’ve compiled a simple and easy-to-implement list for owner/operators to keep their residents, leasing professionals, and operations healthy:

• Keep an up-to-date list of flu shot clinics that are in close proximity to your community.
  
• Provide alcohol-based hand sanitizer at all on-site common places including the gym, business center, leasing office, mailboxes, laundry rooms etc. Side note - it is always a good idea to have anti-bacterial wipes in the gym.
  
• Increase the cleaning schedule. Have your on-site maintenance team and leasing staff clean all door knobs, bathrooms (toilet handles included), chairs, tables, phones (handle, ear and mouth pieces), computer keyboards, mouse, printer, copier etc, with anti-bacterial wipes or sprays at least three times per day. I know it seems like a little overkill, but according the CDC, viruses can survive on a surface for 2-8 hours.
  
• Develop a contingency plan if a leasing professional becomes ill. A person with H1N1 should stay away from public places for at least 24 hours after their fever breaks without the assistance of fever-reducing medicines. That could be a couple of days or even longer. Determine if there are other leasing professionals from your other communities who can fill in or be willing to pay overtime for those who are making up the time for their sick co-worker.
  
• Implement a flexible leave policy if a leasing professional’s child or family member becomes sick, or if daycare or school closes because of an H1N1 outbreak.

I am sure all of you are sick of hearing about H1N1 but it isn’t going away. It’s just the beginning of the flu season, and I worry it will only get worse.  Implementing these simple steps will not only help to protect your community and its operations, but it shows good faith to your residents. Showing you care about their health and taking steps to keep them healthy at your property can help improve resident relations, generating more lease renewals and referrals.  And each of these strategies ensures a healthy bottom line.

For more information about the H1N1 virus and preventing an outbreak at your community visit http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/business/guidance/ or http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/.

David Carner – President, LeasingDesk, RealPage, Inc.