Good article. We need to keep this at the forefront of every business manager’s mind. It won’t go away so better start preparing.
Learn how to prepare your business for Bird Flu, go to Bird Flu Manual Online. Free references and tools.
Nigel Thomas
Check out Bird Flu D-I-Y eManual for Business Preparedness and Survival and download a complete solution.
Although still very low, this is a number which has been creeping up for several years now. Even without the budget, most businesses managers are at least trying to get a set of plans together. So the question now is “What’s stopping them?”.
If you sift through the responses it boils down to two main reasons:
1. There’s no real point, it’ll be the end of life as we know it, or
2. I don’t know how to prepare and don’t have funding for a consultant.
The first point is fundamentally flawed. It will not be the end of life as we know it. The strain which breaks into a pandemic will not be the same as the bird-to-human one which is killing over 50% of those it infects. The human-to-human strain is far more likely to be like the 1918 pandemic strain. The 1918 influenza outbreak, considered the worst, killed about 3% of those it infected.
In number terms, losing 3% of staff over 18 months (the expected duration of the pandemic) is probably less of a loss than is the normal business staff attrition rate.
That’s not to say it won’t be devastaing. The staff absenteeism rate will be over 50% for lengthy periods with even healthy staff off work due to fear, home quarantine and caring for others. Within a relatively short period the hype and fear will subside as the public becomes educated and the actual fatality rate of the virus strain becomes clear.
Soon most will want to come out of isolation and try to resume a sense of normality in their lives. Governments would need to loosen controls as resources would not be able to cope for long if sustained at those initial levels. Businesses will be permitted to do their own disinfection and people would become (cautiously) accustomed to living in a pandemic, despite high levels of sickness around them and the regulatory controls which will be in place.
The second point about not knowing how is also answerable. There’s actually a lot businesses can do to prepare. There’s a lot businesses can do in advance so that they are ready and know what to do when the time comes. Here’s a summary of a few of them:
Things that you can do to prepare
Establish your level of risk exposure. Before you know what you need to do you’ll need to do some sort of Bird Flu risk assessment. There are four areas you need to focus on, processes, people, suppliers and utilities. You should also consider doing a business impact analysis, it’ll give you an idea on your cost/benefit to justify the funding you may need.
Choose your ‘Flu Manager’. Every company needs an Influenza Manager(s) to take the lead in the company’s planning for the pandemic, and guide the company’s response (in their location) once the pandemic starts. This specialist business continuity manager role needs to be hands on.
Identify your protective equipment needs. When people are panic buying there will be supply shortages of face masks, hand disinfectants and other cleaning supplies/equipment that you’ll need for workplace disinfection, and to maintain a sterile office environment with, so you need to do your stockpiling now. Put it all in storage and forget about it. You’ll be glad you did!
Get your sickness response plans mapped out. Locate a room which can be used as a quarantine room and plan how you will manage illness at work. Establish a proper written set of sickness at work response procedures for proper workforce management and the quick return to work.
Company alert status. You’ll need to align your own company pandemic response phases such as ‘yellow’, ‘orange’ and ‘red’ with those of your local government or the WHO to set into motion each of the activation phases in your response plan. For example the special office access control arrangements for when the yellow, orange and red alert phases are initiated.
Consider international travel policy. What special travel policy guidelines will you have for staff who are already in an infected area when the pandemic breaks out? Will you let you staff travel to an infected area during the yellow, orange and red alert phases and what additional information do you need to know on the travel application form?
Governments and health agencies. Learn what your local public health sector actions will be and what regulatory compliance requirements your government may require of you terms of illness record keeping, and contact tracking of where sick staff have been.
Educate management and staff. Ensure to carry out proper staff training so they are familiar with your company response procedures, and run some practice drills so they can see for themselves the plans in action. Ensure to give them access to plenty of Bird Flu information, FAQs and videos, so they can learn what Bird Flu symptoms are, its characteristics and the differences between flu and the common cold.
Promoting awareness. It is vital during the heightened alert phases to use as many ways as possible to promote staff awareness. Put up awareness posters around the office to remind staff of the importance of practicing good personal hygiene and implement special social distancing policies.
Carry on communicating. Good communications management will be critical to your ongoing operations and customer confidence. Make sure you can also get messages out to your staff efficiently using some sort of cascading communications tree, so that staff can get the ‘all clear’ and get back to their workstations quickly.
Pre-prepare forms. Pre-prepare all the lists and forms you’ll need and ready a preparedness report with an estimated project timeline. This will help you keep your implementation on track and within budget.
Nigel Thomas, a 20+ year business continuity planning professional, is Managing Director of Continuity Business Solutions Limited, author of the hugely successful “Bird Flu D-I-Y eManual for Business Preparedness and Survival” (with over 10,000 copies sold!) and is also sponsor of Bird Flu Manual Online the web’s best reference and resource mine designed to help businesses and homes prepare for a pandemic outbreak of Bird Flu.
Many business managers think that because the hype surrounding Bird Flu seems to have has eased, it means the threat no longer exists. Don’t let the lack of news have you drop your guard. An Avian Influenza pandemic remains a very real threat.
Despite an apparent ‘lull’ in activity (reported or otherwise) in recent months, pandemic influenza, in particular Bird Flu remains with WHO at Yellow Alert Status (3 of 6) meaning “No or very limited human-to-human transmission”.
There should be no disillusionment, at some point, be it in months or in a decade, after more ‘false starts’ and lulls, the virus will successfully mutate to an infectious type at a place and time when effective containment is not forthcoming. If the strain is infectious enough and there are enough transient people in the vicinity to harbour it, the ingredients will be present and a global pandemic event will take place.
Fortunately the worst case scenario is the least most likely to transpire. That is for the virus to mutate into a highly contagious strain, and for it to kill over 50% of people it infects (as is the case with the current bird-to-human only cases). The consequences of this would be catastrophic and the survivors would have to get used to a very different world. Ironically it is this doomsday approach which has prevented many businesses from taking any preventative steps whatsoever to prepare themselves. What would be the point?
In fact the most likely scenario is not doomsday at all, and there is definitely a point to preparing. The most likely scenario will be far less devastating.
Whilst it is true that virtually every person on the planet will at some point contract the pandemic flu, some 50% of those infected will not even know they have it, 40% will suffer from only mild discomfort (as with the ‘normal’ seasonal influenza), and only a small percentage of the rest who suffer severe discomfort will succumb to it, leading to perhaps at most a 1% to 2% fatality rate. This has been the case for previous pandemics in history such as the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Additionally, the pandemic medical research and technology race-against-time we are witnessing may lessen those numbers still further.
Although a 1% to 2% fatality rate is still catastrophic, it will not fundamentally alter our society. In quantative terms, a company of 1000 people could expect to lose 10 to 20 staff over the 18 month duration of the pandemic, probably less of a loss in number terms than is the normal staff turnover rate. These relatively small numbers however disguise the crippling effects an outbreak would have on business, as plans must be in place to carry operations through weeks or months with a 50% or more personnel absenteeism rate, with even healthy staff off work due to fear, home quarantine and caring for others.
Based on pandemic events throughout history, most experts agree that the next pandemic will last approximately 18 months and come in three distinct waves. Human nature is such that at the commencement of the pandemic, and to a lesser extent on commencement of each subsequent wave, fear and panic will grip society with most isolating themselves and their families from close contact with other members of the public. This ‘over-reaction’ was evidenced in the cities affected by the SARS outbreak of 2003, with many travellers reporting prejudices against them worldwide if it was known they had been in an infected area. As tragic as it was only 895 people died from SARS, far less than most of the other scourges which plague our modern society, medical or otherwise.
With a global pandemic looming, even most governments’ initial reaction will be equally disproportionate with for example, whole floors of offices being ordered closed for controlled disinfection when only single (suspect) cases occur within them.
Within a relatively short period however the hype and fear will subside as the public becomes educated and the actual fatality rate of the virus strain becomes clear. Soon most will want to come out of isolation and try to resume a sense of normality in their lives. Governments would need to loosen controls as resources would not be able to cope for long if sustained at those initial levels. Businesses will be permitted to do their own clean up and people would become (cautiously) accustomed to living in a pandemic, despite high levels of sickness around them and the regulatory controls which will be in place.
The obvious picture which emerges from this is that provided a business can educate its staff on what to expect, how to protect themselves, and satisfy them that it has taken appropriate measures to protect them and their families, those staff are far more likely to return to the workplace quickly. The reality is that an office or any other enclosed working environment can and should be made into the safest place for staff to be outside of the home.
If the methods used to do this are communicated to staff ahead of time, the business will continue to operate when others around them fall over.
In conclusion, businesses which still take the pandemic threat seriously and allocate funds and resources into preventative measures will survive or even thrive during and following a global pandemic. A company needs to win the main board support it needs to do just this, and show it’s shareholders, staff, clients, suppliers and the public at large its commitment to its operational continuity.
Nigel Thomas is a veteran business continuity professional. He is also the operator of Bird Flu Manual Online, a reference and resource mine designed to help you get your business prepared for Bird Flu. Use the WHO’s Pandemic activation phases and what non-perishable supplies are best to stockpile. No login required.
A new reference and resource mine is available designed to help businesses (and homes) prepare for a pandemic outbreak of Bird Flu. Contains tips, references, resources, ready made training presentations etc. Visit Bird Flu Manual Online now and start your business preparations.
Learn how to conduct your own Risk Assessment, or how to increase your Staff Awareness of the importance of practicing good Personal Hygiene using Awareness Posters and implementing a Staff Training regime which helps them Understand Bird Flu, the Symptoms and it’s implications on your business operations. No login required.
SUMMARY TIPS FOR BUSINESSES
We all know of the threat that Bird Flu brings to our businesses. We have all been told to prepare. But how do we prepare? It won’t be like other disruptions so our current Business Contingency Plans won’t work. We have been warned to plan for up to 50% of staff to be absent from work during the worst period, and to expect the same for our suppliers and clients.
How can we avoid the inevitable workforce panic? What can we say when our staff, customers, stakeholders and regulators ask what we are doing to help prepare for Bird Flu? Are we confident we have done all we can for workplace Health and Safety? How can we prepare our homes and families?
There are many ways businesses can minimise disruption, absenteeism, panic, workforce infection and financial losses with good planning, training and preparation. Here are a few tips and things to think about.
1. Know your exposure
What are the risks to your business? Some businesses will suffer more than others. Examine where you stand with:
-what are your critical processes
-who are your critical people
-which are your critical suppliers
-what utilities do you rely on
2. Training
Ignorance and panic are our worst enemies. Teach your staff to:
-understand the Bird Flu pandemic
-recognise the symptoms and know the differences with the common cold
-make it difficult for the infection to spread
-protect themselves and their families
-involve themselves in your own preparations
3. Human Resources
It is people who will be directly affected by Bird Flu, not systems, machinery or physical locations. Consider:
-deputy training
-back up staff
-succession plans
-leave arrangements
-temporary redundancy
4. Influenza Manager
Who will take the lead in your company’s planning for the pandemic, and the company’s response once the pandemic starts? Nominate an Influenza Manager(s) to look after:
-monitoring of the pandemic and trigger activities
-human resource contingency
-staff/supplier/customer communications
-workplace preparation and disinfection
-managing stockpiles
-regulatory obligations
-managing staff return to work after illness/quarantine
5. Managing illness at work
Discovering illness in the workplace could mean healthy employees’ refusal to come to the office due to safety concerns. Mitigate this prospect by having:
-a compartmentalised workstation layout
-arrangements for quarantining the individual(s)
-clear guidelines for disinfecting and cleaning workstations
-daily illness checks before coming to work
6. Personal hygiene
Practicing good personal hygiene is probably our best offense against Bird Flu. Educate your staff to:
-wash their hands regularly and thoroughly
-cover their mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing
-dispose of tissues in sealed bags after use
-avoid touching their face with unwashed hands
7. Communications
Keeping communications open is critical to business operations. Keep in contact with staff, customers and suppliers by:
-enabling staff to work from home
-diverting phone calls and messages
-accessing email from anywhere
-installing videoconferencing
8. Social Distancing
Protect staff by minimising contact with others. Consider the following measures:
-avoid face to face meetings
-review overseas travel policy/quarantine
-stagger working hours to avoid overcrowded public transport
-avoid restaurants at lunch hour
-allow customers to make orders/enquiries by email/fax/phone/website
-practice ghost shifts
9. Awareness
People need constant reminders and updates. Help increase your staff awareness with:
-posters
-screensavers
-pandemic status boards
-regular newsletters
-website articles
10. Supply shortages
During a pandemic, supplies of everything will be short. Consider the need for ensuring adequate availability of essential supplies in case of:
-breakdown of land/sea transportation systems
-suppliers own travel restrictions
-border closures
-disruption to air traffic
11. Stockpiling equipment
Businesses and individuals have already started stockpiling equipment. Have you? Consider adequate supplies of:
-face masks
-rubber gloves
-disinfecting soaps
-cleaning materials
-tissues
-Perspex barriers
12. Office environment
Maintaining a clean office environment is one of our best defenses. Check the:
-air ventilation
-office cleaning methods
-pantry for shared crockery/cutlery
-reception for newspapers and magazines
-arrangements for identifying visitors/staff who have symptoms
13. Lists and forms
As for any emergency, pre-prepare all the lists and forms you’ll need. Create:
-emergency phone records forms
-sickness notification forms
-contact lists to record affected staff travel history and
who they have been in contact with
-what-to-do checklists
14. Practice, practice, practice
Drills and exercises are the only way to make sure employees and plans are ready. Schedule:
-desktop exercises to check contingency processes
-minor exercises to test staff
-major full scale exercises for a real life drill
-test meetings/conferences remotely using videoconferencing
You can find solutions to these and many other Bird Flu Preparedness issues by referring to our FREE online reference manual.
