Good preparation will help your business deal with and recover faster from any crisis situation.  Preparing for a potential flu pandemic is time well spent.  It can help you protect the health and safety of your employees and their families, as well as minimize the potential negative impact a pandemic will have on the economy.

Consider essential functions needed to keep your business running smoothly.

• Designate one person to be responsible for planning your company’s response to a pandemic.
• Identify essential business functions.
• Review your work force, including the average age of your employees and other family members.
• Update your human resources policies.
• Develop strategies to restrict or modify business travel.
• Determine if employees can work remotely from home.
• Encourage employees to be prepared by using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention check lists.

Ask, and answer, tough questions.

• How many days – if any – of cash reserve does the business have?
• Does the business have just-in-time inventory?
• Can the business survive with only 50 to 60 percent of the work force?

Keep the following assumptions in mind, should a flu pandemic hit the United States.

• No one is immune.
• The pandemic will move in waves.
• The entire pandemic period will last between 18 to 24 months.
• Thirty percent of the population will become ill.
• Forty percent of the work force will be absent.
• It will take at least six months for a vaccination to arrive.

For more information on preparing your business for a pandemic, refer to the Tennessee State Pandemic Response Plan found on the Federal Pandemic Web site at www.pandemicflu.gov. Your local Chambers of Commerce and professional associations are also good resources.