As a business owner or manager, you have a responsibility to protect employees while also maintaining business operations. Therefore, preparation for a pandemic, such as H1N1 or Swine Flu, should address employee safety as well as business continuity.
Employee Safety
In the event of a pandemic, your chief employee safety concern will be preventing the further spread of swine flu. Here are 6 steps that you can take to prepare for a swine flu outbreak:
- Keep air handling equipment well maintained, and make sure that filters are changed reqularly
- Encourage all employees to sneeze or cough into tissues
- If no tissue is available, encourage employees to sneeze or cough into their elbow
- Encourage employees to immediately wash hands after coughing or sneezing and provide anti-bacterial wash for this purpose
- Require sick employees to stay home if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms and not to return to work unless cleared by a physician
- Put telecommuting plans in place for any employees who can work remotely
Workforce Continuity
A pandemic can cripple your workforce. Not only will sick employees be absent, but a higher than normal percentage of your force may be at home caring for sick family members. In addition, some healthy employees may simply refuse to show up out of fear. With these factors in mind, it's not unthinkable that you could be without 30% - 50% of your workforce. Here are some actions you can take to stay in operation:
- Identify your business's essential functions; those activities on which day to day operations depend (For example, if you run a service business, your dispatchers and technicians are essential)
- As much as possible, cross-train other employees to back-fill these positions in an emergency
- Decide how you will communicate with employees while they are absent in order to keep them apprised of company business as well as to obtain information from them
In a worst-case scenario, your building could be quarantined. If this happens, you will need to continue operations from a remote location or from several sites. Determine which critical functions can be carried out from home or remote offices and develop a plan for moving off-site if necessary.
Keeping Supply Lines Open
Finally, don't forget that critical suppliers can be taken down by pandemic as well. Identify your critical suppliers and contact them regarding their business continuity plans. If they do not have contingency plans in place, then look for a secondary supplier or consider stocking enough back up inventory to keep you operational in a crisis.
Summary
Planning is the key to being prepared. You have no way of knowing if a pandemic will occur or how severe it will be. That being the case, your best bet is to prepare for the worst. Focusing on employee safety and the continuity of your business critical functions may help you to survive a pandemic.
