H1N1 will make for a long bumpy winter for businesses

I am writing to you from San Diego where the Disaster Recovery Journal's Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery conference just concluded today.  It is the business industry's premier event addressing planning and technology concerns related to helping businesses avoid business interruptions.

As one of the 800 attendees, I was a very small fish in a pond of big ones - including other attendees like the directors of business continuity/disaster recovery departments for corporations such as UPS, American Airlines, Whole Foods, Gap, Inc., Red Hat, and CIGNA (to name a few).  What was "top of mind" for many is the potential impact the Novel H1N1 Influenza will have on their business operations.

Is this on the top of your mind?

Here are the top 10 things I learned this week:

1. It is going to be a long, bumpy winter for businesses and for the non-profit community. Now is the time to address the concerns because businesses aren't going to be able to handle the operational issues in January and February.
2. As you know, there were high occurrences of flu this summer which is almost unheard of. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is reporting increased flu activity, especially in the Southeast (as schools begin earlier here than elsewhere in the country). Doctors are currently seeing levels of flu that are normally seen at height of winter seasonal flu.
3. The CDC is no longer using the test for Novel H1N1 Influenza as a diagnostic tool. The assumption is that "flu-like symptoms" are being treated as though the individual has the H1N1 influenza virus. They have issued school and workforce guidances that individuals have to be "fever free" for twenty-four hours, down from the seven days mandate issued in late Spring. There is some discussion now about changing that from 24-48 hours and there is concern about "virus shedding."
4. What the WHO is seeing concerning the Influenza A/H1N1 is that there is not much co-circulation (the concern is that if H1N1 co-mingles with the H5N1 then it is game over because the highly infectious tendencies of H1N1 will be combined with the 60% mortality rate of H5N1), the virus is stable, and that drug resistance to Tamiflu is not an issue.
5. Of concern is who the virus is infecting. It is affecting young people and that is putting everyone on edge.
6. Main risk factors include: pregnancy, obesity, health disease, diabetes, and children with neurological issues. Businesses have to consider what steps they are taking to protect employees who may be pregnant.
7. Many businesses have been writing their plans to match World Health Organization Alert levels. The recommendation now is to set the plans in light of local health conditions where the corporation's work force is geographically located and to set consistent triggers.
8. Employee education and awareness is key, especially around reinforcing good hygiene. Simply printing out CDC bulletins and putting them on employee message boards is not enough for a company's pandemic preparedness plan. 
9. Administrative controls and procedures are critical and need to be discussed now.
10. Work force continuity is also more important than ever to ensure essential operations are not interrupted.

I will go into further detail into each of these areas during the one day workshop on September 29^th in an effort to help our Nashville-based businesses create or refine their current business continuity plans. 

Information on the workshop and on a webinar I am offering for small and mid-size businesses on the potential impact of H1N1 upon their business can be found by clicking here.