Business Pandemic Planning Guide
Swine Flu Disaster Plan from the World Health Organization
Nov 4, 2009
Most businesses and organizations have continuity plans, but they don't always include special provisions for pandemic outbreak. Recent events are reason for every business to start getting serious about pandemic flu planning.
Pandemic Planning for All Business Sectors
All markets are interconnected, so in the effects of a pandemic will reach beyond just hospitals. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies 9 corporate services which are all essential to the normal functioning of society:
- Defense
- Law and order
- Finance
- Transport
- Telecom
- Energy
- Food
- Water
- Health
For example, the health sector can't respond to a pandemic without energy to power facilities or transportation to deliver necessary supplies. Each of these nine key services is dependent on the others, so specific flu planning for all business types is necessary for continuing to provide community essentials.
Anticipate the Emergency for Pandemic Preparedness
The first thing that businesses need to do when developing a disaster plan is to define the emergency. They need to anticipate the breadth and depth of the outbreak in their area, especially as far as it could mean:
- Loss of staff
- Disruption of supplies
Knowing the challenges that the business could potentially face is the first step to being able to address them in a disaster preparedness plan. Management should consult recent pandemic statistics and update their plan often according to those real-life indicators.
Business Continuity During Flu Season
In the event of a public health emergency, it's important for businesses to continue meeting needs of the surrounding community as best as possible. This will require careful management of potentially disastrous setbacks, namely interruptions of supplies and reduction of personnel.
According to the WHO pandemic planning guide, business owners and managers must ask questions like the following to shape their continuity plans:
- What are the essential functions of the business? Which can be suspended temporarily?
- What is the corporate chain of command in the event of pandemic emergency?
- Should stockpiling be an option against potential supply disruptions? How should this happen?
- How will the anticipated staff loss be handled? Would it be appropriate to find alternate employees in case of emergency?
- What will happen if security risks threaten the supply chain?
- How will staff be trained in regards to specific health measures and special emergency procedures?
- What will the business do to recover as the pandemic passes its peak?
Business continuity planning asks the tough questions that help employers to deal effectively with an influenza outbreak or other global health situation.
Periodically Test and Update Business Plan
Once a business has a plan down on paper, it needs to be continually tested and reworked to meet the changing demands of the emergency. A good plan will be flexible enough to adapt to higher and lower levels of risk than anticipated, and can carry the business through all phases of the emergency.
Business pandemic plans can be difficult to draft, but regardless of the sector they're always necessary. Loss of staff and disruption of supplies are the two biggest risks to any organization during an emergency situation. Addressing these problems with business flu planning begins with having the proper expectations and asking the right questions.
Source:
Whole-of-society pandemic readiness pdf, World Health Organization.
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