Although businesses globally see an influenza pandemic as a very real threat, they are doing little to prepare for it, according to a new survey released today by Aon Limited brokerage in London.

According to the company's findings, which follow the recent launch of Aon's White Paper, "Pandemic Influenza: Managing the Risks of an Invisible Threat," more than eight in 10 (85.5 percent) respondents view a possible influenza pandemic as a threat to their business.

However, fewer than six in 10 (57 percent) have measures in place to protect themselves against such a risk.

Employee absence, Aon said, appears to be of greatest concern with more than 77 percent of those surveyed ranking this as a significant risk.

It is predicted that an influenza pandemic could cause up to 25 percent of the work force to be absent for between five and eight days over a three-month period. Business interruption is also proving to be a major worry for 62 percent of survey respondents, Aon said.

Of those companies that have measures in place to mitigate the impact of an influenza pandemic, the favored form of protection is a business continuity plan--52.5 percent of respondents report having such plans in place, the survey found.

But, the poll revealed that 61 percent of those with such plans have not factored them into their overall risk management strategy. A further 69 percent have never tested the effectiveness or suitability of such plans to deal with the risks facing their businesses.

Although the outbreak of SARS in 2003 resulted in a significant loss of demand and a severe impact on the economies of East and Southeast Asia, the majority of respondents to Aon's survey (85 percent) stated that they had not made any major changes to their business continuity plans following the incident.

"Businesses are clearly concerned about the outbreak of an influenza pandemic caused by 'bird flu,' yet there still seems to be a significant ostrich tendency when it comes to doing anything about it," explained Hugh Leighton, risk consultant at Aon Limited. "Our recent White Paper highlighted the risks that companies face and the steps they can take to mitigate those risks."

Mr. Leighton added, "A staggering six in 10 companies with a business continuity plan in place have never tested them in action, and many firms have not even gone so far as to draft such a plan in the first place.

"For many companies around the world, SARS, like Y2K, was the dog that did not bark, and many believe that 'bird flu' will be a repeat of those experiences," he said.

He continued that SARS caused a significant impact to business in Asia, yet the lessons of that event have not been learned.

"Business continuity plans must be robust, tried and tested," he noted. "We cannot encourage companies enough to ensure that this is the case and that they are fully prepared to deal effectively with the human issues related to a potential flu pandemic."

Special Reports /

Study: Businesses Ill Prepared For Pandemic

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