Pandemic business continuity plan

Jim kennedy, mrp, mbci, seems to be many different thoughts about the potential pandemic in the corporate boardrooms all across the globe. In general, the world community is hopeful that the ‘flu pandemic, currently related to the h5a1 “bird flu” virus, does not occur. There are many medical professionals and scientists indicating that it is just a matter of time before such a pandemic will occur. These issues coupled with many inquiries that i have received about what companies should do to prepare for a pandemic have led me to write this article. Have tried in this article not to discuss the science or to debate the public policy issues, but to provide some thoughts on what the various business industry segments should consider in business contingency planning for such an event if and when it should occur. Why, because that is the profession of business continuity planners, to plan ahead for potential events and to advice management.

It is the obligation of business leaders to perform due diligence and exercise due care in running its hope is that this article will stimulate thought and conversation by business leaders and contingency planners in the areas of business impact and continuity. Have highlighted areas of concern that need to be reviewed in regards to a pandemic type of incident. The list is by all means not all-inclusive, but represents areas that have been raised as concerns by my clients and fellow sincere desire is that these highlighted areas will stimulate action by companies small, medium and large so that they might properly prepare for possibility of a pandemic impacting their operations. Develop a plan for an alternative workforce in the event that a large portion of the usual workforce is impacted by a pandemic. Plan on taking special precautions to assess the health of the workforce and potentially plan to turn back infected workers who report for work. Plan on how to deal with the emotional impact of such events as death and potential of death on the individual’s family as well as the workforce in general.

Companies should plan for reduced production or service delivery based on reductions of customer demand, labor force, raw material supply or energy resources needed for operations. Companies should entertain plans to work cooperatively with other companies to maintain critical business services and ventures in the event that this is necessary. Develop contingency plans for raw material and supply stockpiling as these resources may be impacted by a pandemic, especially those that are imported or rely on imported raw materials for their production. Develop and deliver internal communications and training of the workforce in dealing with proper reactions to a pandemic. Hospitals and healthcare facilities will be severely overwhelmed and probably have insufficient resources to treat patient load, company should be prepared to offer internal medical assistance to its workers or others in the event of a pandemic. Review insurance coverage specifically reviewing coverage in regard to the impact of a pandemic on business operations and employee health.

Identify and train back-up staff for key positions in the event that key personnel are impacted by a pandemic. Make sure that if raw materials are unavailable for some reason related to a pandemic, there are sufficient surge capacities to allow for continued production. A pandemic will cause restrictions in the movement of raw materials and products, or shortages of fuel may occur; make sure, therefore, that contingency plans are in place to provide adequate movement of product to sustain business operations. Prepare for and communicate the communication channels that the company will utilize to keep employees, customers, and suppliers informed as to company activities during the pandemic. Anticipate what customers will expect in terms of product or service demand, and delivery during the pandemic. Determine what product or services are likely to be impacted the greatest by the pandemic.

I hope that i have stimulated thought and a need for further inquiry and dialogue between contingency planners and business leaders. Jim kennedy is business continuity practice lead and distinguished member of consulting staff of lucent worldwide services. Kennedy has over 25 years experience in the business continuity and disaster recovery fields and holds numerous certifications in network engineering, security and business continuity. He has developed more than 30 recovery plans, planned or participated in more than 100 bc/dr plan tests, helped to coordinate three actual recovery operations, and has co-authored two books. A bc/dr plan can integrate weather-related business continuity policy disaster recovery (dr) plan template: a free download and ss continuity & disaster this item with your network:– to prepare and plan for a pandemic disaster. Paul kirvan, cisa, cissp, fbci, centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) has indicated that an h1n1 (swine flu) pandemic is threatening the u.

Supplies of h1n1 vaccine have been slow to appear in appropriate quantities, but they are expected to improve later this year and into this guide on using a pandemic template, you'll learn what you need in a pandemic plan for your business and what to put on your pandemic planning checklist. To get started, read our guide, and then download our free pandemic plan that can be customized for your business. Guide to pandemic planning for businesses: table of to build a pandemic plan  pandemic planning questions  pandemic planning checklist  pandemic planning best practices for your business  reviewing the pandemic planning template  exercising the pandemic to build a pandemic building a pandemic plan, the principal concern is availability of staff. Next, prioritize the business functions in terms of the most critical to the organization's survival. In collaboration with your human resources department, identify the employees who are deemed most critical to supporting critical business the potential lead time to respond to an h1n1 outbreak (e. Three to five days incubation period before the disease presents itself), the number of employees initially infected may be low, but could increase ad our free pandemic planning ic planning ic plans are a combination of 1) preventive measures, e.

An important strategy for achieving the latter goal is to cross-train employees in multiple functions within their business units. A comprehensive pandemic plan includes primary and alternate supplier contacts; sources of medical supplies; contact information for all employees as well as stakeholders, customers, and key supply chain vendors. Finally, it includes a logical sequence of action steps that ensures employee heath is protected and critical operations are ic planning questions to following are some additional issues to consider. Some are more effectively handled at a higher level, such as state departments of health, while others ought to be part of your own pandemic readiness what point would you consider quarantines? Several employees have called in sick or have tested positive for h1n1, it may be time to activate a "reduced staff business model" and send most employees home, other than those designated for reduced operations support. Human resources and facility planning policies and procedures have been established for a flu outbreak?

Planning following is a suggested sequence of plan development ish a pandemic recovery team (prt); it is charged with plan development and coordinating the organization's pandemic the prt meet with human resources, senior management, internal technology groups, and disaster recovery, business continuity and emergency response teams to establish the scope of the business unit as well as senior management on these meetings so they are properly all relevant employee information, e. Critical activities that must be information about the technology infrastructure that supports these copies of existing business continuity and disaster recovery copies of existing business continuity and disaster recovery plans do not exist, proceed with the following steps:Identify what management perceives as the most critical business fy what management perceives as the most critical it assets, e. Call center, server farms, internet ine the maximum outage time management can accept if the identified business processes and it assets are ate the employee data to the critical business processes and technology fy situations where a single person is responsible for a critical function, and identify possible fy the operational procedures currently used to respond to critical ine when these procedures were last tested to validate their fy emergency response team(s) for all business functions and the technology infrastructure; determine their level of training with regard to critical processes and systems, especially in fy opportunities for cross-training of staff potential to prevent gaps in fy vendor emergency response capabilities; if they have pandemic response plans and when they were tested; impact of a pandemic on contract obligations; presence of service-level agreements (slas). Results from all analyses into a gap analysis that identifies potential staffing issues associated with critical business functions and technology assets, with recommendations as to how to achieve the required level of preparedness, and estimated investment management review the report and agree on recommended e pandemic recovery plan(s) to address critical business functions, facilities and technology t tests of plans, employee backups and system recovery assets to validate their operation and pandemic plan documentation to reflect le next review/audit of pandemic recovery ic planning best in mind the following best practices for your business:Senior management support: be sure to obtain senior management support so that pandemic plan goals can be the pandemic planning process seriously: if the h1n1 virus continues to spread; it could affect your organization sooner than you think. Plans simply need the right information, and that information should be current and it simple: gathering and organizing the right information is results with business units and technology groups: once pandemic plan is complete, review the results with business unit and technology icate the program with all employees: also advise key customers, supply chain vendors and stakeholders of your flexible: the suggested template in this article can be modified as needed to accomplish your ing the pandemic planning , we'll examine the table of contents from the pandemic planning template, indicating key issues to address and activities to ent of intent: this sets the stage and direction for the statement: very important to include an approved statement of policy regarding the provision of pandemic recovery ives: main goals of the personnel contact information: locate key contact data near the front of the plan, as it's the information most likely to be used right overview: describes basic aspects of the ncy response: describes what needs to be done following the occurrence of pandemic ic recovery team: members and contact information of the pandemic ncy alert, escalation and pandemic plan activation: steps to take through the early phase of an outbreak, leading to activation of the pandemic : tips for dealing with the nce: summarizes the insurance coverage associated with a pandemic outbreak and any other relevant ial and legal issues: actions to take for dealing with financial and legal ic plan exercising: underscores the importance pandemic plan ix a: suggested pandemic recovery plan forms: ready-to-use forms that will help facilitate plan sing the pandemic s the most effective way to test a pandemic recovery plan is through tabletop exercises. The following is a list of items to cover at such an key members of the pandemic team and other relevant teams, including human resources, facilities, emergency response, and disaster recovery and business the healthcare and preventive measures in place and those that need to be impacts on company impacts on the organization's key business functions, who currently supports them and who can back them up if they are s efforts to provide cross-training to employees who may be designated as s succession planning to minimize any leadership s communications activities, both internal and external, that ensure employees have all relevant information about the pandemic and key external organizations know how the company is s supply chain concerns by reviewing key suppliers and how they plan to provide a pandemic ine which supply chain firms should be part of a joint discussion on cross-organization pandemic responses; schedule meetings to address these fy where additional support, training, resources and funding are needed; secure these plan documentation as le follow-up ering the investments businesses make in their it infrastructures, all businesses should also invest sufficient time and resources to protect those investments from unplanned and potentially destructive events.

This article/template will help you get started on developing plans to protect and recover your critical it infrastructure assets following such this author: paul f. Kirvan, fbci, cbcp, cissp, has more than 20 years experience in business continuity management as a consultant, author and educator. He is also secretary of the business continuity institute usa was last published in november deeper on disaster recovery planning - a bc/dr plan can integrate weather-related business continuity policy providers: four key capabilities to screen can i keep my business disaster recovery plans relevant? Recovery cases show it's possible to come back from tion against ransomware becomes practical 2016 disaster recovery planning best practices entail tests, e pros confident their business disaster recovery plan will providers: four key capabilities to screen can i keep my business disaster recovery plans relevant? From ransomware: a checklist for ss continuity and disaster recovery testing providers: four key capabilities to screen service-level agreement template for disaster recovery a business impact analysis template: a free bia template and are some virtual machine disaster recovery challenges? A bc/dr plan can integrate weather-related business continuity policy disaster recovery (dr) plan template: a free download and ss continuity and disaster recovery testing a bc/dr plan can integrate weather-related can i keep my business disaster recovery plans relevant?

To site for both employers and care of yourself and your the word out to your friends, family, neighbours, and social infectious disease outbreak or pandemic can affect and disrupt our work, homes, and globalization, the threats of new infectious diseases are a growing concern, and when a new kind of virus spreads easily from person to person throughout the world, it can become a pandemic. Being informed and knowing what to do in the event of an outbreak will help minimize the impacts on our daily lives, work, and this site for helpful guidance, advice and tools to help you plan, prepare, prevent and protect against infectious disease versus a pandemic fever lasting 3-4 , chest aches and e exhaustion - usually at the e and weakness that may last 2-3 weeks or ms can last 4-10 days and may become severe. A cough and general fatigue may last for several cations can lead to dehydration, pnemonia and respiratory failure; can worsen a current chronic condition; can be flu vaccine will help prevent or ease symptoms (but may not protect against a new pandemic influenza virus). This illness is not actually caused by an influenza mes can have mild general aches and mes mild cations can lead to sinus congestion or these tools to help your family and workplace plan, prepare, prevent and protect against flu and infectious ss continuity the upper hand on to site for both employers and care of yourself and your the word out to your friends, family, neighbours, and social infectious disease outbreak or pandemic can affect and disrupt our work, homes, and globalization, the threats of new infectious diseases are a growing concern, and when a new kind of virus spreads easily from person to person throughout the world, it can become a pandemic. This illness is not actually caused by an influenza mes can have mild general aches and mes mild cations can lead to sinus congestion or these tools to help your family and workplace plan, prepare, prevent and protect against flu and infectious ss continuity the upper hand on germs.