The flu. If you’ve ever had it, you know just how miserable it can be. And, so you’re probably among the first to get in line, roll up your sleeve and get vaccinated every year.
Too bad it’s not that simple for employers. They are the ones who must deal with the the numerous physical and financial impacts of the virus, especially high employee absenteeism, and ultimately put safeguards in place to protect people, operations and assets.
The flu is serious business.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that as many as 111 million workdays are missed annually due to the virus, costing employers $7 billion a year in sick days and worker productivity. The CDC also estimates that businesses spend an additional $10.4 billion every year in direct costs associated with employee hospital stays, doctor visits, medicine, etc. Now imagine these numbers should the flu reach the pandemic level as it did with H1N1 in 2009.
Ready or not?
Is your organization prepared for high employee absenteeism, the possible shifting of operations to other, unaffected locations, or the immediate transfer of responsibilities to qualified individuals? Hopefully, the answer is yes, as these are all very real possibilities when it comes to a widespread outbreak of the flu, an epidemic or even worse, a pandemic. As such, infectious diseases should be part of every organization’s business continuity plan (BCP).
A BCP that has a worst-case flu event among its many contingencies serves two key purposes. First, it aims to minimize the spread of the virus in the workplace, including suppliers, customers and others. Second, it provides measures for the continuance or quick restoration of essential operations and services, such as IT.
Over the years, BOLDplanning has supported numerous public and private sector o