Business Continuity /
Avian Influenza
How to Integrate Bird Flu Planning into your existing Business Continuity Management [BCM]
In Asia and Australia / NZ today many organisations are considering upgrading their existing BCM so as to include planning for avian influenza. At this stage people in Asia have suffered most from this deadly disease. Once a decision is made to develop an avian influenza plan, organisations are finding that there are no ground rules, no 'template' on which to rely. In this brief paper Seamus Mac Lochlainn, Director BCM at Montrose provides some high-level structures that may assist organisations in the region with their planning for avian influenza.
1 Introduction
An Avian Influenza Pandemic will be different from other disasters. In this case the critical resource is the organisation's personnel. Issues such as recovery site activation are almost certainly irrelevant. The issue for organisations is survival in the face of a deadly disease that could decimate the personnel resource. This does not mean that the existing Business Continuity Plan is irrelevant.
It is possible to build on what you already have, such as signed-off critical processes, a BCP management structure and a culture that is already BCP aware. All that is required is enhancement to take into account the new realities. Some aspects for inclusion are discussed below.
2 Broad Contextual Information
Personnel will require some advance understanding of how the organisation would be affected by the pandemic. As no one knows the potential extent or duration of such an event this must be high-level and based on reasonable judgments.
Included here should be some historical perspectives on other pandemics; the history of the current threat and its current status. This information should be brief.
Include also the potential consequences for the organisation, such as:
- Likely changes to clients' behavior;
- Significant impacts [e.g. finance, operations, legal, reputation];
- The logistics of doing business; and
- The potential impact on critical externally-provided services.
3 Risk Management
This includes planning for and carrying out the following:
" Health and hygiene training for employees;
" Health status monitoring of personnel, including rules such as the sick must stay at home;
" Planning for personnel to work from home wherever this is possible; and
" Business environment social distancing measures.
4 Organisational Structure
Management involvement with, and control of, pandemic BCM is essential. Depending on what you already have there are various ways to utilise your existing organisational structure, such as:
- Use an existing Crisis Management Team where this is available;
- Use an existing "Recovery Manager" structure;
- Introduce a separate Pandemic Leadership Role that links to, or reports to, an existing management structure.
In addition to management control, other roles that are necessary to execute the plan must be defined. Allocation of responsibility for these is essential. The development of brief role descriptions ensures clarity and reduces over-lap and under-lap of roles.
Remembering that personnel are the critical resource in a pandemic, alternates for every key role are essential. Where possible, the work environments of primary and alternate personnel should be geographically separated.
5 Communication Plan
As always, communications facilities are vital in a disaster situation. A pandemic-afflicted world will be a social-distanced world. Management control will be impossible without effective communications mechanisms.
The Communications Plan cannot be delayed. It must be developed now and the necessary resources must be put in place now. The means whereby the health status of personnel is monitored and recorded must be identified.
6 Resource Acquisition Planning
As with the early 20th century Spanish Influenza and the 14th century Bubonic plague, the pandemic will come to an end. Whether there are adequate supplies and the ability to maintain social-distancing in the meantime, will mean the difference between life and death for many.
The development of a resource acquisition plan is essential for the organisation and its personnel. The required resources will be diverse, such as face masks, technology so as to facilitate working from home, food and drink.
The status of the pandemic threat must be continually monitored so as to ensure that the resource acquisition plan is activated in sufficient time in order to avoid shortages.
7 Action Plan
The action plan may include the following:
- Activate prevention and containment measures as already determined;
- Notify personnel of the latest pandemic status;
- Communicate health and hygiene messages to all personnel;
- Activate the supplies acquisition plan;
- Maintain personnel health status records;
- Activate the pandemic disaster plan -
- Personnel deployment plan,
- Activate work from home where appropriate,
- Focus on critical business functions;
- Continue to update personnel on pandemic status; and
- Continue to maintain personnel health records status.
Organisations that are planning to this level are positioning themselves so that they can rapidly enhance their BCM should the situation deteriorate.