Checklist of Strategies: Health Crisis Business Continuity Planning

Checklist of Strategies: Health Crisis Business Continuity Planning Checklist of Strategies Protect your business during a health crisis Health...
Author: Bryce Parks
3 downloads 0 Views 3MB Size
Checklist of Strategies: Health Crisis Business Continuity Planning

Checklist of Strategies



Protect your business during a health crisis

Health Crisis

Business Continuity Planning

This Checklist provides an overview of strategies that can help employers address business needs during a health crisis. Infectious disease control involves constant vigilance. Disease outbreaks both past and present are reminders that we cannot afford to let our guard down or become complacent when dealing with a health crisis. Businesses will play a key role in protecting employees’ health and safety as well as limiting the negative impact to the economy and society. Developing a business continuity plan is crucial for organizations to ensure their business stays operational in the event of an interruption, crisis, or emergency. Plans should provide basic structures for guidance, and include strategies for disease mitigation as well as steps for safely maintaining business operations in the midst of an outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 866.799.2655 or email questions to [email protected]. We hope you find this Checklist helpful as you take steps to protect the health of your business and employees.

HealthAdvocate

| 1

Communicate with Your Employees

In the event of a health crisis communicating with your employees early and often is important for them and for your business. Employees who do not feel that their employers have plans in place to adequately protect them and their jobs during a public crisis will experience more anxiety and may be too fearful to come to work during the crisis. • A  nticipate employee fears and concerns and develop a plan to address these individually. If available, partner with your employee assistance program (EAP) for help. • Educate your employees about the types of emergency plans the company has in place, where they can find them, and make sure employees know how your organization intends to communicate these plans. • Keep current emergency contact lists for all employees and have a protocol for periodic updates. • L  et your employees know where and how they will receive information if there is a health crisis or other emergency. Is there a dedicated telephone number or a web address they can check to get updated information about the company? • Provide information on company, national, and local emergency resources, such as community and state health departments, local hospitals, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or the Red Cross.

“ 2 |

Communicating with your employees early and often is important for them and for your business.



HealthAdvocate

Address Workforce Management and Employee Absenteeism

In the event of a health crisis, some companies may be so drastically affected by absenteeism that they will have no choice but to close. On the other hand, if you plan ahead, you may find some creative ways to staff your organization. Here are some ideas for helping reduce the number of employees who need to be onsite in a crisis, and suggestions for finding temporary employees. • Provide for increased schedule flexibility. For example, allowing employees to work in shifts as absenteeism rises. • Identify those employees who can work from home or alternative locations. • Review policies that encourage sick employees to come to work because they cannot afford to lose their pay. • Establish what technological needs employees will have. How will they connect with the organization’s network? Can the network sustain that many online users? • Review absenteeism and leave policies. Make them more adaptable as there may be changes in public transportation, closings, etc. • Have employees update beneficiary information on pension, 401(k) s and insurance plans. • Encourage employees to sign up for direct deposit of their paychecks into their bank accounts. • Cross-train employees, so there is more flexibility in what jobs they can perform during a crisis. • Make the ability to cross train as easy as possible (perhaps online for some tasks) so that it can be done quickly if needed. • Team with other industries. If you don’t need employees, but you have ones who want to work, you may be able to team with companies that do need additional workers. • Have a list of retirees who may be available to work as temporary substitutes in the event of short-staffing.

HealthAdvocate

| 3

4 |

HealthAdvocate

Protect the Health of Your Employees

By far, a company’s biggest concern will be protecting its employee base. If your workplace remains open, you will likely need to find ways to help protect your employees from illness. Certainly, there are no foolproof ways to do this, but here are some ideas that can reduce exposure. • Offer free or low-cost vaccines at the workplace, if available. • Educate employees on ways to prevent the spread of disease. (Check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for the most up-to-date and appropriate recommendations.) • Provide sanitary supplies like hand sanitizers, disinfecting bleach wipes, cleaning supplies, etc. You may also want to stockpile food and water depending upon your type of business and the type of emergency. • Set up protocols for dealing with employees who become sick onsite or who are suspected to be ill. • Consider when and how you would control access to your buildings so that only essential personnel are entering. • In some cases consider social distancing measures; in the event an illness is contagious like influenza and is transmitted via droplets and contact. • Establish specific business travel guidelines, refer to the appropriate health departments (local, state, national) who will provide guidance if needed. • Decide when, and if, to bring employees working abroad home. If the emergency is country specific, provide guidance and protocols for employees returning from affected locations. (Refer to your state department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention health department policy). • If available, refer employees to their health advocacy service for help finding in-network doctors should they become ill, or help with any health or insurance-related issues.



If your workplace remains open, you will likely need to find ways to protect your employees.



HealthAdvocate

| 5

Review Business Process Priorities

Certainly taking care of your employees is paramount during a pandemic or other health emergency, but so is making sure your business will remain solvent. The more effectively you can plan ahead of time for all aspects of your business, from supply chains and network capabilities to legal and security issues, the better prepared you will be to see that your business continues long after the crisis is over.

Supply chains Coordinate and rehearse a comprehensive plan with your suppliers and vendors to make sure inventories keep moving. • Set up a meeting to coordinate plans with your key partners— find ways that you can support each other. • Create a variety of options for communicating with your partners, for example, video conferencing. • Consider alternative supply chains with geographically dispersed options. • Think about moving your operations to another location not as severely affected. • Consider whether your needs to stockpile inventories of critical materials if you have the facilities to do so.

Legal issues A severe pandemic will provide businesses with unforeseen legal challenges. Organizations will need to be flexible, creative and open to new ideas to find solutions. • Review union contracts and be aware of your union policies, and the rules of any exceptions for emergencies. • Pay attention to all training and safety regulations when shifting employees to different areas. • Review all business contracts and consider how you will manage with suppliers and customers. • Be aware of HIPAA privacy laws in terms of releasing information about employees’ health. • It can be a liability issue if a business is the source of a communicable disease outbreak.

IT During a health crisis, your IT capabilities are going to be essential, especially if you have a large number of employees working from remote areas. • Review your system capabilities, IT support, cyber security, and back-up resources. • Identify all key resources employees will need, such as passwords and connectivity options. 6 |

HealthAdvocate

Chains of command In the midst of a crisis, some or all of your top executives may not be available, or even if they are, they may not necessarily be the key people you need during a crisis. • Make certain that your succession planning and knowledge transfer initiatives are up-to-date, and have backups/alternatives with knowledge and skills in these positions. There should not be any critical role in your company that can only be handled by one employee. • Make certain that all key players have contact information and methods of contact for the rest of the team. • Have clearly delineated lines of leadership and alternates for each leader.

Partnering with government It is important to not only understand what local services may or may not be available, but that there may be ways to partner with organizations in your location to provide support services and care. • Contact local and state health departments, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for information on what they have planned and ways you can coordinate with them. Have a checklist of specific local agency phone numbers, such as local and state police, fire departments, health departments, and a contact person for each agency. • Consider ways you could help the community. For instance, if you have a large facility that will not be in use, a local health department or hospital may need it as a makeshift facility.

Security There could be civil unrest combined with lack of security resources in the midst of a crisis. Make sure you have a security plan established, and have reviewed your plan. • Coordinate with local officials to see what their plans are. • Consider having additional (non-personnel-dependent) security measures in place, especially if you have stockpiled necessities or medications you need during a crisis.

HealthAdvocate

| 7

Provide Emotional Support

Finally, consider how to help your employees deal with the emotional side of living through a pandemic or health crisis. Establishing an employee assistance program (EAP) can be a vital resource in handling employees’ emotional needs as well as other legal and financial concerns. • Establish important support contacts and resources for your employees during and after a crisis. • If you have one in place, make employees aware of their EAP contact number for emotional support.

Conclusion

Going through these planning stages may seem overwhelming, but they are absolutely necessary. As we have seen with recent natural disasters poor planning can leave companies and people devastated. How businesses respond in a crisis has a direct impact on their employees and their customers. If companies can continue to provide needed resources during a pandemic or health crisis, they can more effectively protect their business and employees.

References

1. HHS. “Transcript of Secretary of Agriculture Mick Johanns, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, -- Regarding Federal Preparedness for Avian Flu.” HHS Speech Transcripts. March 20, 2006. http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_a/7_0_10B? contentidonly=true&contentid=2006/03/0096.xml. Accessed July 28, 2006. 2. Ibid. 3. San Francisco Department of Public Health, Communicable Disease Control and Prevention Section “Pandemic Influenza Business Continuity Guide and Template for San Francisco Businesses”, July 2008. www.sfcdcp.org/document. html?id=260 Accessed December 4, 2014.

Resources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov World Health Organization: www.who.int Occupational Safety and Health Administration: www.osha.gov National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: www.niosh.com

8 |

HealthAdvocate

Available White Papers and Checklists The following previously published Health Advocate White Papers are available for free on our website at: HealthAdvocate.com/communications_pubs.aspx. There is a companion Checklist that accompanies each White Paper.

• G  uide to Pandemic Business Planning & Communications

• Caregiving: The Impact on the Workplace

• G  uide to Workplace Wellness: Healthy Employees, Healthy Bottom Line

• Sleep Deprivation: A Wake-up Call for Business

• O  besity in America: Workplace Solutions

• The Impact of Domestic Violence on the Workplace

• S  tress in the Workplace: Meeting the Challenge

• The Impact of Breast Cancer on the Workplace

About Health Advocate Health Advocate™, Inc., a subsidiary of West Corporation, is the nation’s leading healthcare advocacy and assistance company, and has served as a trusted source to many of our clients and members by finding them the answers and resources they needed to protect their workforce and their families. Whether it is in response to the challenges of an emergency situation or the everyday healthcare needs of employers and their employees, Health Advocate provides a broad spectrum of time and money saving health advocacy and employee assistance solutions. Our award-winning solutions include EmpoweredHealth™, Health Advocacy, Wellness Coaching, EAP+Work/Life™ and Chronic Care Solutions™, among others. We also leverage the power of data analytics to help our clients and members get more value out of the healthcare system. For more information, call 866.799.2655, email [email protected] or visit HealthAdvocate.com.

Health Advocate is not affiliated with any insurance or third party provider. Health Advocate does not replace health insurance coverage, provide medical care or recommend treatment.

©2015 Health Advocate, Inc. HA-B-1411006-CHK

866.799.2655 | [email protected] | HealthAdvocate.com

Suggest Documents