Eight Questions To Ask When Formulating A Pandemic Response Plan

If you have decided to create a pandemic response plan, here are eight questions you must answer first:

  • What are the critical business processes and minimum staffing levels that we must maintain under all circumstances?
  • How will we continue to operate with up to 30-40% of our staff working remotely, or quarantined ? Could our customer contact centre, IT Department or warehouse continue with such reduced staffing levels?
  • How do we introduce containment and social distancing strategies within our business?
  • What is our plan for responding to staff fear and anxiety?
  • Are we prepared for suspected influenza cases in the workplace; how do we deal with them?
  • Have we developed and implemented adequate pandemic / swine flu influenza response procedures?
  • Do we have stocks of emergency supplies, necessary ‘telecommuting’ infrastructure to enable staff to work remotely, and supplies of IT equipment that may require rapid-deployment?
  • Can our staff work remotely if they are quarantined? What if they need to remain at home to look after sick family members, or children who are unable to attend school?

Why?

To take control of a pandemic quickly, you need to ensure any suspected cases are quarantined quickly and you’re able to deploy staff to work in remote locations at short notice. You If you already have a business continuity plan, you may have the foundations of your pandemic response plan, and it’s a relatively easy task to add pandemic/swine flu response procedures into it. However, a standalone, specific pandemic/swine flu response plan may be required for a defined period, or for large or geographically dispersed work-forces that need to respond quickly to a localised outbreak. Planning for major influenza outbreaks or any other pandemic incidents present unique and specific considerations for business continuity planners. Work from home policies, rapid deployment of technology and voice/data communications infrastructure and careful attention to containment and social distancing, along with plans to immediately address suspected cases in the workplace are all critical consideration elements.

Services

Our Pandemic Response solutions include:

  • Pandemic Plan Templates, Work from Home Policies, Training packs, testing materials, quickstart services.
  • Assessment of risk – what is at risk and are you likely to be affected?
  • Development of response strategies and plans
  • Simulation workshops – testing various Pandemic Response scenarios
  • Implementation & Training of Pandemic Response plans
  • Communications Strategies for Pandemic situations

We have experience in planning for crisis and pandemic situations, across multiple industries, locally and internationally.

It’s never too late to plan your response to a pandemic, until it is.

Are Ready To Start Your Pandemic Response Planning?

Contact us for an assessment of your needs and a plan of action from our expert team of consultants today…