Pandemic Planning for Businesses

Most people are aware of the potential for an avian influenza (bird-flu) pandemic, and the need to prepare themselves, their families and their businesses.  Many people and businesses however are unsure how to make this preparedness a reality, and uncertain of the extent to which they should prepare for this risk in particular, over the other risks that they manage all the time as part of day-to-day business. 
Planning for a potential pandemic follows the same principles as planning for many other crisis events, such as earthquakes, IT system failure, disruption of supplies, loss of a key customer etc.  There are well established principles for risk management, business continuity and crisis management planning that can help businesses prepare for and be able to survive major crisis events.
A societal event, such as a pandemic, however also has some unique features that mean it is important to review plans to make sure that they are appropriate.   Specific challenges include:

• Loss of contextual and specialist knowledge as staff members are either unable or reluctant to work.
• The event may either emerge rapidly or escalate slowly over time, with uncertainty as to how long/how bad the event might become.  Even before a pandemic is confirmed, there is likely to be significant disruption to business through fear and precautionary measures put in place.
• With simultaneous outbreaks occurring potentially at a national and global scale, there is less opportunity for bringing in external support or sourcing necessary supplies during the crisis event.
• Stress levels will increase as the pressures of working at reduced staffing levels are coupled with concern for family and friends
• Community resilience will also be lowered, creating greater need for undisrupted goods and services from many critical industries.

How can we help?
If you are just starting on the planning process, a good starting point is the Strategic Crisis Planning process developed and tested as part of the Resilient Organisations research we are involved in (www.resorgs.org.nz).  It is a simple way for organisations to very quickly identify their response priorities and develop an action plan for getting better prepared. 
If you are already in the process of developing a more detailed pandemic plan we would be happy to offer advice or support for this, or provide independent review.  We can also help with testing your plans using scenario exercises, which is one of the most important aspects of the planning process.
If you’re not sure about where to start, then we can also work with you to fully develop and implement a strategy for improving the resilience of your business.