Can your business survive an outbreak?

The facts and statistics have been reported, countless articles and essays have been written, numerous
individuals and countries have been affected yet, so many of us fail to take any action. Does this sound like your
business in addressing the issue of outbreak contingency planning?

The recent Swine Flu, E.Coli, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Norovirus outbreaks are just a few
examples of infectious diseases that have swept the globe over the past few years. It has been estimated in
Canada alone that a pandemic could:

  • Claim up to 58,000 lives
  • Last for a year or more
  • Afflict up to a third of the population
  • Affect up to 35% of the workforce at any one time
  • Cost the country billions of dollars in business disruptions.

So, how would your company respond if a public health official closed or quarantined your operations? Would you
be able to self-insure the costs of salary, communications, public relations and clean-up costs when revenue is
lost or significantly depleted?

For most small to mid-size companies the answer is no or only for a short period of time. Many businesses
depend on a consistent daily revenue stream to continue their operations, especially during these economic
times. Imagine a widespread flu takes out one-third of the workforce inside of a week and creates public panic. All
of a sudden you not only have to worry about costs, but your reputation is at stake if you do not have a
contingency plan in place to respond immediately to the following:

  • Employee/Vendor absenteeism
  • Reassigning Responsibilities
  • Maintaining strong client relationships
  • Maintaining communication with employees, including remote workers
  • Implementing specialized technologies and support services (application support, login, password support,
    hardware support)
  • Maintenance shortages
  • Temporary or long term closure of premises
  • Off-site location and alternate sites for IT backup

Furthermore, the topic of contagions can also include every day risks. What if a negligent employee fails to wash
their hands or unfit products cause severe illness to your customers and you are shutdown? Now, not only would
outbreak contingency planning be useful, but you may also be exposed to liability risks that can become very
costly.

Helping clients plan for situations where they must simply respond to crisis circumstances or unexpected losses
both quickly and correctly is what JB Risk’s experienced professionals do best. For more information on pandemic
planning please contact one of our experts to discuss your organizations risk needs. After all, nobody plans to fail,
but you can definitely fail to plan.

Contact:

Professional, independent, outsourced risk management and insurance solutions.
                                                     outbreak contingency planning
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How to apply basic risk
management strategies to
your business:
> reduce the risk: This strategy
and severity of a loss. Often, proactive
impact of losses on your business by
implementing deterrents. These
preventative measures can range
from basic alarms and sprinklers all
the way to complex software or
different methods of supply chain
management.
> retain the risk: Self insurance is
often accepted due to extremely low
probability risks, excessive costs or
the risk simply is not insurable. Risk
retention may also be a result of
broker or management negligence
and is often discovered after it is too
late. However, this problem can be
avoided by having a third party conduct
a risk audit on your firm and usually
saves you a substantial amount of
time and money in the long run.
> transfer the risk: Insurance is
one of the most common methods
used to transfer risk from one party to
another in the form of an insurance
policy. There are numerous policies
available and they should be reviewed
on a regular basis to ensure your
business is not over or under- insured.
Grant Robinson
Grant Robinson, CCIB, CRM
Managing Partner
Phone: 403-298-4314
Email: grobinson@jbrisk.ca
Katie Ellwood
Katie Ellwood, BComm.
Risk Management Associate
Phone: 403-213-6712
Email: kellwood@jbrisk.ca




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