Agents and brokers should view the current health crisis as a warning call for themselves and their clients to prepare for a more serious pandemic, such as the long-watched H5N1 avian flu strain. And while a long-term goal of updating and expanding crisis management and business continuity plans is essential, businesses can take several immediate steps to protect employees, customers, supply chain partners, additional stakeholders and business assets, said Gisele Norris, DrPH, national director of Aon Healthcare's alternative risk practice:

Determine availability of backup suppliers to ensure supply chain is uninterrupted
Look at succession planning for all levels of the organization
Create a process for cascading critical messages to employees
Develop a protocol to facilitate home working arrangements for employees
Inform employees of any travel protocols/restrictions in place.
Construct an action plan should an employee be suspected of having A/H1N1 swine influenza when he/she is at work, or if an employee is suspected and has been in the workplace 3 to 4 days before the onset of symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control reports almost 100 confirmed U.S. cases of swine flu as of April 29. The virus is spreading rapidly across Europe, spurring the World Health Organization to move its alert level closer to a pandemic. But the big news is happening in Mexico, where swine flu has already killed more than 150 people and infected 2,500.

Special Reports /

Swine flu threatens more than illness

Related Stories

Recommended For You