How to Prepare Your Business For Bird Flu

Ask any business manager if they’ve heard about Bird Flu and the answer is always an emphatic “Yes!”. Ask them if they have made preparations to mitigate the effects of Bird Flu on their business continuity, and very few are able to produce any viable evidence that they actually have.


The intent seems to be there. The results of a recent international survey of businesses corroborates this. The survey, carried out by Mercer Consulting (www.mercer.com/avianflu), covered 450 organizations across 38 countries and 20 industries, shows that some 17% of businesses world-wide have allocated some kind of budget towards its pandemic influenza readiness activities.


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.

Another New Page on Bird Flu Manual Online

Bird Flu Manual Online has added another great new information page to the web site:

Sample Business Impact Analysis Questionnaire.

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More Chapters for Bird Flu Manual Online!

Bird Flu Manual is please to announce the addition of new great content on our site. New chapters include...

Communications Tree

Quarantine Room

Company Pandemic Response Phases

Managing Illness at Work

Sickness at Work Response Procedures

Workplace Disinfection

Staff Training

Staff Awareness

Personal Hygiene Education

Company Pandemic Activation Phases

Sickness Contact Tracking

Bird Flu Characteristics

Bird Flu Symptoms

Bird Flu D-I-Y eManual

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The Bird Flu Manual Online Team

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Continuity Business Solutions Ltd and Bird Flu Manual Online announce the arrival of the long awaited Bird Flu D-I-Y eManual for Business Preparedness and Survival. The best electronic reference manual available. Get yours now!