Influenza World Health Care Professionals

When an influenza pandemic emerges, it will become the single greatest threat to business continuity in modern times and could remain so for up to 18 months. Between 30 and 50% of personnel may be absent at the height of the pandemic, with one estimate suggesting that the financial impact of a pandemic on the global economy could be as high as US$ 1.5 trillion. [1] Therefore, companies need to develop rigorous contingency plans to limit the impact of an influenza pandemic on employees, operations, facilities and society.

The entire business community and individual companies are being asked to undertake such contingency planning by their governments and by the WHO.

Why businesses should prepare

Even though governments are taking measures to prepare their countries for a pandemic, such as stockpiling antiviral agents, these plans cannot be expected to provide for everyone in public and private sectors. Delegates at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum have insisted that the best solution to this problem would be for both governments and businesses to develop preparedness plans.
There are three main reasons why companies should prepare for a pandemic:

1. social responsibility – many businesses provide essential services that will be needed during a pandemic (e.g. food, water, power, waste disposal, etc.). These companies have a social responsibility to ensure that they are able to continue operations, even with a depleted number of staff.
2. employee wellbeing – ‘companies don’t perform, people do’. Many companies rightly claim their most important asset is their people. Preparing adequately for a pandemic should include taking care of these important assets.
3. shareholder value – an influenza pandemic is not an unforeseeable risk. Therefore managers of corporations have an obligation to minimise the impact. The ability to manage a crisis is a vital new standard to good corporate governance because it has:

How would a pandemic impact my organisation? [2]

In the event of an influenza pandemic there would be widespread illness and death, which would lead to an overload of health services and social disruption. Furthermore, there would be a considerable impact on businesses, including:

Lost employee productivity:

• increased absenteeism (on average, this could be 30% for each sector) due to illness, caring for sick friends or relatives, and social distancing policies [2]
• on average, employees would miss up to 3 weeks of work during the course of an influenza pandemic [2]
• school closures are likely to happen very early in a pandemic, affecting staff attendance at short notice
• estimates predict that 2.5% of employees in each sector would die [2]
• risk that some companies do not have the capacity to support increases in telecommuting.

Disruption of supply chains:

• disruption of transportation networks would limit the ability to receive and distribute goods
• inability to maintain operations because of shortages of staff and supplies, or a slowdown in servicing utilities
• closure of facilities due to implementation of policies to contain the pandemic (e.g. social distancing).

Reduction in demand for products and services:

• reduction in customer base due to illness
• customers likely to avoid public shopping areas, restaurants, entertainment facilities, etc. in an attempt to avoid infection
• potential decline in income and discretionary spending as businesses are forced to halt operations.

Decline in international travel:

• governments are likely to restrict international travel
• people will avoid areas that are influenza ‘hotspots’
• companies whose employees need to travel on a regular basis will be affected.
  

How can you help protect your organisation?

The most important action that your organisation can take is to plan now. There are a number of ways to prepare for an influenza pandemic:

1. develop an internal pandemic planning taskforce and review the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines as an example to include as part of your organisation’s pandemic plan. (http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/businesschecklist.html)
2. engage your business continuity/preparedness department to expand their mission to include pandemic planning.
3. work with a business preparedness advisory organisation to assist you in preparing for an influenza pandemic.

Organisations who have pandemic plans generally address issues of: [5]

• business continuity: impact of absenteeism on operations, technology, travel
• awareness/education: employee communication, educational materials
• prevention: promoting good health habits, procuring supplies
• purchasing antiviral agents for employees.

Are other organisations prepared?

The majority of organisations do not have pandemic plans in place:

• when surveyed at a pandemic conference in February 2006, only 18% of attendees said that their organisation had a pandemic plan in place. [3
• in November 2006, 66% of respondents to a questionnaire said their organisations have not adequately planned to protect themselves against a pandemic. [4]

How some of the world’s bigger organisations are preparing

Company	Illustrative influenza pandemic preparedness measures
HSBC [6]	Developing ‘remote working’ plans to operate under an influenza pandemic scenario that would keep as many as 50% of its employees from being at work
Microsoft [7]	Issued a bottle of hand sanitiser to all 1200 employees at its Mountain View campus, with a web link for information on avian influenza. Also, installed hand sanitiser dispensers throughout its buildings
Boeing [5]	Assembled a task force to examine business continuity issues and worker protection plans  Assembled minimum workers to conduct core activities. Estimates non-attendance rates of up to 30%  Exploring options to minimise operational disruptions (e.g. cross training, reconfiguring shifts, virtual work)
Virgin Atlantic [5]	Purchased 10,000 courses of antiviral treatment for employees who frequently travel internationally

    

 

1. World Bank. Evaluating the economic consequences of avian influenza. Available here.
2. Congressional Budget Office. A potential influenza pandemic: possible macroeconomic effects and policy issues. December 2005. Available here.
3. Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy. 2006 Summit Coverage: Conference poll: 18% of businesses have a pandemic plan. February 15, 2006. Available here.
4. Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. Business preparations for pandemic flu. 2006. Available here.
5. Ruiz G. Business continuity plans for an avian flu pandemic largely off workforce radar. Workforce Management. December 12, 2005. Available here.
6. Financial Times. HSBC warns on possible bird flu toll. [press release]. January 10, 2006. Available here.
7. KNTV-TV (NBC). Bay area companies prepare for bird flu. [press release]. February 14, 2006. Available here.  

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