The media coverage of the global spread of swine flu has been inescapable. Since the first cases were reported in March this year, the highly contagious virus has spread to 74 countries, infecting almost 30,000 people, with more than 800 confirmed cases in the UK.
The World Health Organisation has recognised the significance of the threat by raising the level of alert to phase 6; this means the virus is spreading rapidly in communities in several countries and we are at the start of a global pandemic. The development is unlikely to change the approach in the UK; up until now, the government has focused on containing outbreaks with measures such as school closures and helping healthcare professionals, businesses and communities understand more about the virus and how it is spread.
As the number of new cases continues to rise on a daily basis, many companies are thinking about the potential impact to their business and how they can protect their employees. What steps should you take to responsibly manage this risk?
Pandemic – impact on staffing levels
The Department of Health estimate that 50% of the population could become ill with pandemic flu; this could have a devastating impact for businesses. In addition to a high rate of absence through illness, employees may also take time off to look after sick relatives or, if there are school closures, parents may need to cover childcare. Add to this the number of people who will be absent from work due to other illnesses or injuries, and your business could be left struggling to operate.
While companies will insure against loss of premises, loss of staff can be overlooked; even though high rates of absenteeism can be equally damaging.
In addition to a reduction in productivity, your business may suffer from loss of key skills and knowledge, increased pressure on remaining staff and the financial burden of additional recruitment and training costs for temporary staff.
So what can you do to reduce the risk to your employees and business?
Risk management
Review your procedures in relation to a pandemic, with particular emphasis on hygiene, sickness and travel. Neglecting risk management could leave you open to claims from employees and/or third parties.
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Hygiene
While maintaining high standards of hygiene is already important in industries where there is an increased risk of contamination; it is an area that every business should focus on. The Health and Safety Executive and the Department of Health provide comprehensive guidance, with general workplace advice for businesses and more detailed guidance for those working in healthcare and other high risk areas. -
Travel
Stay up to date with government advice and restrict business travel accordingly. For guidance on foreign travel visit the Foreign and Commonwealth Office web site a www.fco.co.uk.Business Travel policies provide cover for cancellation due to illness, however, insurers’ polices can vary; talk to your broker to confirm what’s included in your travel insurance and any limitations and exclusions.
Ensure your business travel guidelines are regularly updated in line with Foreign Office advice and that travellers are aware of your sickness policy. You may also want to ask staff to inform you if they plan to travel to affected countries whilst on annual leave.
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Sickness
The HSE advises employers to ask staff to stay at home if they have flu-like symptoms, or if they think they may have been exposed to the swine flu virus.
Communicate changes to protocols effectively to staff and make information easy to access and highly visible. It is also advisable to find out what measures your suppliers, customers, and any others you deal with, have implemented. Your customers may also appreciate an outline of the measures you have put in place to manage the risk.
Customer communication would also need to be responsibly managed, and any person who has been in recent contact with an infected person should be informed.
It is also important to ensure you have the right cover in place. Ask your broker to review your insurance portfolio including cover, limits and exclusions.
Insurance
Your Business Interruption policy may include notifiable contagious diseases, but if it doesn’t, the availability and cost of cover may be prohibitive. Talk to your broker about the options for cover extensions or alternative covers that could provide added protection, including loss of income and/or increased cost of working.
Key Man insurance covers the business costs associated with the loss, through death or illness, of a key employee. Consider which people are fundamental to your business; in addition to directors and senior management, there may also be specialists with unique experience or knowledge.
Business continuity
Most businesses will have a disaster recovery plan but, in many cases, this will deal with loss of property and not absent staff, even though this can have just as significant an impact to the financial stability of your business.
Review your disaster recovery plan to ensure you have measures in place to cope with the absence of large numbers of staff. Part of this process would be to identify key dependencies and introduce skill/knowledge sharing, where practical, to reduce reliance on key people.
Ensure your key business processes and procedures are documented, up-to-date and stored so that they are centrally accessible and so they can also be accessed remotely.
Review your homeworking arrangements and IT capabilities – can people access email and your business network at home?
Barbara Ball, Associate Director - Operations, concludes,
"By putting measures in place to minimise the risk of introducing or spreading the virus among staff, you’ll not only be looking after employee welfare, you’ll also be protecting your business from damaging costs, tarnished reputation and potential claims from employees, suppliers, customers and other third parties."
For more information about this article contact Barbara Ball, Perkins Slade, 0121 698 8000.
For further information on risk management and business continuity
If you need assistance creating or reviewing your Disaster Recovery Plan please contact Julia Harrop on 0121 698 8035 or speak to your usual contact at Perkins Slade. We can provide a simple online solution for building a robust disaster recovery plan and risk management software to help you identify, prioritise and manage the key risks to your business.
For advice on swine flu
NHS
www.nhs.uk/AlertsEmergencies/Pages/Pandemicflualert.aspx
European Centre for Disease Control
www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/Default.aspx
World Health Organisation
www.who.int/csr/don/en/
Health and Safety Executive
www.hse.gov.uk/
Department of health
www.dh.gov.uk
