Brady Financial Group - Pandemic Planning



			Articles How will a Pandemic affect our Business? An interview with Kevin Brady How will a Pandemic affect our Business? How will it impact Business? While it is impossible to predict with any certainty the length of a pandemic experts are saying it is likely it will come in two or three waves and may last up to two years. Most business continuity plans are designed around a short interruption in business with a primary effect on our physical environment. An influenza pandemic affects only people; the power grids, roads and transit will likely remain intact. It is anticipated that up to 30% of the workforce will be home sick or at home taking care of sick family members at various times during a pandemic. This will have a serious impact for business if not managed properly. Why does my business need a Pandemic Plan? From a risk management perspective, you prepare a plan to ensure that your business survives. Having a comprehensive plan in place can help reduce the spread of disease and help protect your employees. Without a plan, businesses will be making decisions under stress and will be left with fewer options. Being prepared takes a holistic approach to sustaining your business, anticipating impacts to practices, policies and procedures used daily. The plan is your roadmap to containing costs and minimizing the impact to your business and employees. What do I need to consider? The anticipated impact to the business needs to be considered in order to determine how extensive the plan needs to be to suit your unique business needs. What services, processes, policies and people does it need to encompass? How will your supply chain be impacted? Will the demand for your product remain consistent? How will you be able to fill that demand? How will you communicate to your employees, customers and suppliers? How will you maintain essential processes in your business? Do you have enough people trained to provide back up during illness? What can employers do? Initiating work at home strategies during early stages can control the spread, providing you additional resources later on. Document processes and procedures to assist in cross training of employees. Health and safety legislation sets a duty of care which means employers are responsible for the health and safety of their employees and are responsible to ensure actions of employees do not harm others. This means employers should introduce pandemic or “shadow” policies that assist in controlling the spread of infection. The following are some healthy workplace initiatives to prevent the spread of infection. Educate your employees on infection control measures; reinforce this learning with posters in the work place. Adopt a much higher standard of cleanliness; disinfect anything that is frequently handled including telephones, computers, desks, and even your visitor sign-in pen. Promote frequent hand washing; provide hand sanitizers, tissues and garbage cans for tissue disposal. Introduce social distancing measures, including the cancellation of mass gatherings, alternatives to face-to-face contact at work and increasing the physical distance between people. Promote seasonal influenza vaccination among employees and their family members. Support sick employees to voluntarily stay home with pandemic attendance policies. How can I get help with my plan? Contact HR Off-Site at 905-892-9075 or aileent@hroffsite.ca for more information. An Interview with Kevin Brady Why did you choose to create a Pandemic Plan? I look at the plan as a means to ensuring that we are prepared to protect our business and our people should a pandemic occur. How much time does it take? My investment as a decision maker was a couple of hours. The time to get the infrastructure and training needed to support our plan will depend on the resources applied to it, but it will take about a month to get the entire plan put in place. Why did you use consultants to help you? There is an overwhelming amount of information available and we knew we did not have the time, resources and expertise to sift through it all within a reasonable timeframe on our own. It is more likely it would not gain the priority in daily operations and stay on the to-do list with the best of intentions. Was there any value added in this process? The consulting firm we used came at it from a systemic perspective by looking at our business as part of a larger value chain, and the impact other businesses (such as insurance companies) will have on our ability to function through a pandemic. Would you recommend businesses have a Pandemic Plan? I would recommend investing in a pandemic plan; this will be your roadmap to sustaining your business through a pandemic. Not having one is like asking us to review your investment portfolio after a market crash. Yes, you may choose to go without but decisions will be made under pressure and choices will be limited. About Us • Corporate Security Model • In the Community • News & Updates • Useful Links • Contact Us

	Brady Financial Group 102-3385 Harvester Rd. Burlington, ON L7N 3N2 Tel 905 633 9666 Toll-free 800 958 7895 Click here to e-mail