Businesses should plan for a pandemic sooner rather than later, experts at the Pandemic Planning for Small & Mid-Sized Businesses seminar said yesterday.
A flu pandemic is a worldwide event that results when a new influenza subtype emerges, said Dr. Susan Tamblyn, an associate clinical professor at the University of Western Ontario in London. “There is little or no immunity in the population and the virus can spread easily from person to person, causing widespread illness and death.”
“Timing and impact of a pandemic are both unpredictable,” says Dr. Tamblyn. However, it is estimated that more than 70% of the population will be infected over one or more waves of the looming pandemic, and up to 35% of the population will fall ill. And with a projected employee average absenteeism of 20% to 25%(due to illness, caring for ill family members and fear of contagion)at the peak of the pandemic, the workplace will feel an impact.
As employers, what is our social responsibility? “Ensuring that we take every precaution in the workplace to protect our employees,” said Jean-Marc Mackenzie, senior vice-president, health management, Shepell-fgi. And that includes staying informed, he said. “The key is not to get ahead of the experts but to stay aligned to what’s taking place. Rely on the good communication our government, our public health folks and the World Health Organization is putting out, then just to turn that communication into our organization.”
In the case of a pandemic or any emergency then, it’s best to follow the Scout Motto: Be prepared.
How do businesses prepare? With a business continuity plan, which outlines procedure in case of a pandemic or other emergency. The following is Mackenzie’s seven-step plan:
1. Create committees and a chain of command. What is each member’s role?
2. Identify and assess the priorities and develop contingency plans. “Is this going to become part of sick leave,” asked Mackenzie, “if someone needs to be quarantined?”
3. Communicate the plan to employees.
4. Train and explain the plan to employees.
5. Keep copies of the plan at your office and at an off-site location in case of quarantine or building closure.
6. Review and update. “It’s not a stagnant plan obviously,” said Mackenzie. “As circumstances changes, our plan will evolve.”
7. Assess and amend. Learn from experience.
When creating the plan, said Mackenzie, consider the following issues: alternative location, voluntary/sick leave policies, counselling, HR policies, working from home, replacement staff, health and safety, and, and this is key, organization of the remaining staff. “Our contingency plans often focus on the 30% that are going to be out of the workplace. What about the 70% or 60% of the people that are going to have to carry the load? How are we going to take care of them? What further assistance are we going to give them? They’re going to become the backbone of the organization.”
Bill Tibbo of Bill Tibbo & Associates, a corporate clinical consulting company, cannot stress enough how important it is for businesses to think of their employees. He says when a traumatic event occurs there is not only an impact—physical, psychological, behavioural—on the people, but also an impact on the family.
During SARS, he said, “those people who were working in the hospitals at that time had to go under quarantine. But what did that mean from a practical perspective? It meant a lot of them, either through regulation or through simple fear, couldn’t eat with their families…they didn’t sleep with their partners. They didn’t kiss their children good night or read the stories. Did that have an impact on their families? Absolutely.”
Tibbo follows this principle: “Focus on the people and the people will focus on the business; rebuild the people and the people will rebuild your business.”
For more information on a pandemic and how to plan for it, click on the sites belonging to the governments of Ontario and Canada. To comment on this story email brooke.smith@rci.rogers.com.