The Leader - September 2007 - (Page 60) th e p o t e Nt I a l pa N dem Ic: Wh y em er GeN cy pre p are dNe s s p laNs make s e Ns e W he the r the p aNde mI c s t rIk e s o r No t WIll you be opeN for busINess? How likely is it that you will be open for business at the height of a pandemic? With up to 40 percent of your staff unavailable and disruptions in the food distribution and transportation sectors, can you be open for business? Will you be able to meet your contractual obligations to your clients? Moreover, will the vendors and contractors that your business relies upon be available to provide critical services and supplies? From the standpoint of business continuity, it will be incumbent on each company to carefully assess its ability to continue to operate, and to provide government or contractually mandated services, despite the massive disruption that a global influenza pandemic is likely to cause. hope for the best, prepare for the Worst those in regulated industries, the answer is “no.” Preparing for a possible pandemic entails thinking through the worst case scenario, contemplating the possible impacts on your business services, considering what essential services your firm must provide, and then taking measures to preserve your ability to provide those services throughout the pandemic. Pandemic preparedness comes down to three basic strategies: limiting the spread of the contagion at the workplace; ensuring that you are able to continue to provide mission-critical services throughout the pandemic; and verifying that your vendors are able to continue to provide you with the essential services and products that your company relies upon. developING a paNdemIc preparedNess plaN An effective plan should contain two main parts: a corporate plan to ensure that the company is able to provide essential services internally to its employees and service lines as well as externally to its clients, and a site plan for property managers to implement at the property level. the compaNy plaN While the H5N1 avian flu virus may not develop the capability for effective and sustained human to human transmission, can you afford to take the risk that you may not be able to meet your contractual obligations, or worse, provide governmentmandated services, should a pandemic hit? For most companies, and especially Some issues to consider in drafting a pandemic preparedness HR policy include: n What do you do if an employee shows up at work with symptoms that may, or may not, indicate that they are infected with the pandemic virus? Can you send them home or prevent them from coming to the office? th e le ade r 60 september / october 2007 http://www.tpeda.org http://www.tpeda.org
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