Pandemic Ready

By Lee Stewart

Four years ago the risk management, business continuity, HR and OHS departments where all in a frenzy with what looked like that the next pandemic influenza was about to strike with the Avian strain of H5N1.

In the process of developing the Online Pandemic Ready course I attended a few conferences where officials and doctors discussed what might happen, how to plan for it and what to stockpile and how much was it all going to cost. The real answer to any of this is that we just don’t know. When it comes to something such as a Pandemic Influenza there are many unknowns and a number of curve balls can be thrown and as businesses you have to be able to adapt and have a fluid plan. This is especially critical to essential services such as power companies, health and police services.

With the recent events of H1N1 (Swine Flu) outbreak in Mexico and subsequently transcending the globe there are many organisations who are either dusting of their pandemic plans from about three years ago or now find themselves in the position of having to quickly put something in place because I am sure that in the majority of board rooms and senior executive briefings the question is being asked, “What’s our pandemic plan?”

With all the events unfolding I caught up with some old acquaintances in the industry and spoke to Troy Fazakerly who is a consultant in Pandemic Planning and has his own firm Creative Spark Consulting.  Troy spent a number of years developing the pandemic strategy for Energy Australia and he was quite blunt when I asked the question have many organisations missed the boat?

“Those companies that don’t have a plan in place it is probably too late for them to start stockpiling as I am sure that whatever kits are in the country will either be sold at a premium price, be out dated or will simply take over three months to arrive in Australia”

It wasn’t very comforting words for those without stockpiles and having tried to secure stocks for some clients and can say first hand that Troy’s original assessment was correct with prices going up daily and stocks just about sold out. Troy did however offer some sound advice to those companies without stockpiles and went on to say:

“Companies can now be proactive and start internal awareness and education programs. One of the key mitigating factors when dealing with a pandemic influenza is the education and level of training amongst your workforce. Social and behavior change is required along with a basic understanding of how influenza spreads and how you can protect yourself and others around you.“

So if you are in the midst of putting together your pandemic plan then staff education and awareness is definitely one of the main things you should consider to help minimise the impact on your business.

Lee Stewart is the creator of the online education tool Pandemic Ready which is used by a number of businesses to help edcuate staff and potentially minimise the impact of a pandemic in the workplace.  He can be contacted via email. lee.stewart@2and2.com.au