Coronavirus – 10 useful tips to help your organisation prepare

With over 80,000 confirmed cases and over 2,600 deaths, the Coronavirus is being closely observed, as the disease continues to spread across borders and take lives. Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus which was first identified in Wuhan City, China and is now bringing about widespread disruption to societies.

As the outbreak of infectious diseases becomes more prevalent, organisations need to prepare for a serious occurrence by establishing contingency plans.

Griffiths & Armour have created 10 tips organisations should consider when creating a contingency plan:

Outbreak Measures

1. Monitor developments of infectious diseases by following websites such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the NHS and local health authorities.
2. Prepare information for staff, highlighting the symptoms and the organisation’s policy and plan should an outbreak occur.
3. Review personnel procedures to look at the practicalities and options for:
   – Cancelling all annual leave during the epidemic.
   – Changing shift patterns to utilise staff to the best effect.
   – Changing medical absence and certification procedures to avoid potential abuse of temporary concessions, for example, requiring medical certificates for all absences.
   – Enforcing a ‘send home’ policy for those with symptoms of an infectious disease
4. Reviewing staff hygiene facilities and the availability of antibacterial products.
5. Establishing training guides for essential roles and training staff to be multi-skilled.
6. Increasing holdings of essential supplies and consumables. This should include consideration of hygiene products and, where thought appropriate, filtering face masks. Where strong relationships exist with suppliers, consider establishing agreements to take priority over other customers.
7. Requesting copies of contingency plans from existing key suppliers, essential service providers and those sharing your facilities.
8. Increasing the opportunity for staff to work from home.
9. Identifying a pool of people who are prepared to be called upon at short notice to work overtime and/or cover for absences.
10. Reviewing ventilation, filtration and cleaning arrangements to ensure these are suitable to minimise viral spread.

The above guidance is an excerpt from comprehensive infectious diseases guidance available via our RMworks Online Risk Management platform. This guidance document together with many others are designed to help organisations to minimise risk and ultimately reduce their insurance costs.

If you are an existing Griffiths & Armour client, you already have access to RMworks. Please get in touch with your insurance broker or main point of contact at Griffiths & Armour who will send you login details. If you are not a client but would like to find out more, please contact Greg Street below: