Is your organization prepared for the pandemic?

The potential bird flu influenza pandemic, a worldwide threat that could result in millions of casualties, will have a major impact on business, with companies developing contingency plans for relocating employees and conducting business via teleconferencing and telecommuting.

A survey recently released by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions states that most U.S. companies are unprepared for the pandemic, with 66% saying their firms have no plans for protecting themselves. But some American companies that do business in Asia, where the pandemic originated from infected poultry, have already taken action: Microsoft is developing telecommuting capabilities for its 7,000 Asian employees; Cisco has asked its Asian employees to update their passports in case of mass evacuation; Kimberley-Clark has a supply of the antiviral medicine Tamiflu for its 8,000 Thai employees; and Toyota has prepared a prevention manual for its 800 Vietnamese employees.

Companies can take the following steps to prepare for an outbreak:

* Work with your public health department to develop a plan and notify employees about it
* Assess your business continuity preparedness for a workforce outage
* Assign someone in your organization to track flu developments and update your contingency plan in response
* Expand policies and tools that enable employees to work from home with broadband access
* Expand online transaction options for customers and partners
* Work with customers to develop crisis response capabilities