Risk Alert: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) - Responding Today and Preparing for Tomorrow

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Photo credit: CDC/Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM

Risk Alert: Coronavirus Disease
(COVID-19) – Responding Today
and Preparing for Tomorrow
The Coronavirus has become a topic of conversation in board rooms and at the dinner
table. The situation which, was originally viewed as an isolated illness on the other side of
the world, has evolved into an event that is impacting US businesses and Wall Street. The
goal of this article is to help organizations and families understand what can be done to
help prepare for and mitigate the social and economic consequences of the Coronavirus
Disease (COVID-19) outbreak. It should also be noted that this is a rapidly evolving
By Jim Hedrick situation and the information contained in this article is based on what is currently known
and understood about the Coronavirus.

Organizations should view the potential of a pandemic event as not only a threat, but an opportunity. Should a
pandemic materialize, companies who have prepared in a meaningful way will have a distinct competitive
advantage. Businesses who can remain open, even in a limited capacity will be able to meet the needs of
customers, while unprepared competitors cannot. Any efforts taken toward pandemic preparation can also be
leveraged to enhance an organization’s risk management effort. Pandemic prevention efforts help mitigate the
impact of the seasonal flu, increase vendor and customer confidence, prepare for global supply interruptions,
and promote the development of alternative solutions to day-in-day-out business risk factors. Essentially, any
efforts to prepare for a pandemic event will also help a company be more resilient.

Following the COVID-19 is much like watching a slow-moving hurricane. You understand there is a potential
event and begin to calculate the chances of it impacting you, as well as how long you can delay preparing for it.
While this is not the approach that is recommended, we understand that it is a common one. In today’s fast-
moving world, people do not always have the time and resources to prepare for events with potential low
probability, but high severity. Many view the COVID-19 in just this way, “it could impact me, but probably
won’t”.

Public health officials are stating that CORVID-19 has the potential to become our next pandemic. Preparing
for a pandemic is unlike planning for other business interruption events. The first portion of this document will
focus on how planning and preparing for a pandemic is much different than more typical types of business
interruption events.

Preparation
Emergency Policies and Procedures
In the event the COVID–19 begins having widespread impact to domestic businesses, now is the time to review
your emergency policies. Policies that businesses should review and/or develop include:

• Absenteeism policies – consider increasing allowable sick days to provide employees with the flexibility
to stay home if experiencing symptoms or if children or seniors need care.
• Determine event triggers for delaying, altering work hours or temporarily closing the business.
• Event communication protocols – determine and communicate how you will stay in contact with
employees and customers leading up to and during periods of high illness.

Business Resilience
Threat analysis – It is essential to fully identify and understand the potential impact of internal and external
risk factors. One of the most significant factors during pandemic situations is the human and political impact
that can occur elsewhere in the world. Pandemic events can trigger foreign border closures and/or
quarantines. Both conditions can result in the disruption of production and interruption of global supply
chains. The result is that something entirely out of the control of domestic companies can directly impact their
ability to receive and produce goods. The following activities can be employed to help minimize the potential
impact of external risk factors:

• External risk factors
o Understanding the geographic origin of supplies and raw materials, as well as associated supply
chains
o Determination and categorization of critical business processes, supplies and materials
o Identification of customer priorities and needs
o Travel restrictions
o Local and federal public health quarantine and isolation protocols
o School closures
o Transportation outages
o Availability of needed supplies and materials
• Internal risk factors

o Ability to continue critical on-site and off-premise business processes
o Employee and family health concerns
o Employee absenteeism

The conditions above should not be considered an exhaustive list of risk factors, rather an indication of type of
factors could impact domestic businesses. Threats associated with a pandemic event could result in disruption
anywhere on the globe. Domestic businesses not only need to develop plans to continue operations, but also
need to analyze their reliance in the global economy. Not only do organizations need to be concerned about
receiving goods and materials from suppliers and continuing operations, they also need to evaluate the risk
associated with their customers’ ability to receive their goods and services. In the event of reduced operating
capacity, how will companies prioritize customer needs?

Planning
One of the foundational elements of Business Continuity Planning is the identification, consensus and
communication of business priorities. This may seem like a simple exercise, but it is not. It is extremely difficult
to achieve complete organizational agreement and alignment of critical business priorities and processes.
Additionally, in the event of reduced operating capacity as a result of any type of business interruption event,
organizations need to determine how they would prioritize customer needs – even more difficult to achieve.

A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is a process and tool that can be utilized to achieve organizational alignment
on business priorities, as well as serve as the foundation of the development of Business Continuity Plans (BCP)
to support business priorities. A BIA can return many benefits beyond preparing for a disaster. BIAs can
identify and promote opportunities to increase work efficiencies, employee engagement and customer
confidence.

A pandemic is different than more traditional types of business interruption events in the sense that facilities
are not impacted, but people are either unable or unwilling to come to work. As a result, efforts need to be
made not only to understand critical business processes, but also which ones require an on-site physical
presence to complete versus ones that could be performed remotely. Potential business continuation
strategies:

Critical functions and processes that must be performed to meet internal and external demands. Potential
strategies to continue operations include:

• Critical on-site processes: Note the word “critical”, during periods where risk of infection is high
critical processes must be continued, but non-critical ones can be delayed. This allows for greater
flexibility to complete core operations while minimizing the potential for employee cross
contamination and infection. By reducing the number of onsite processes, the number of persons
required to be on premise is also reduced. This provides the opportunity to increase and maintain
employee proximity to one another (social distancing). The fewer the number of processes that are
being continued, the fewer number of people are needed to be onsite. The end result is the ability to
increase the physical separation between employees thus minimizing the chance of disease spread.

Increased social distancing can also be achieved by operating additional work shifts. The result is fewer

workers onsite at a given time, which allows for increased physical separation between employees.

• Critical Off-site processes: For purposes of this dialogue, off-site processes are ones that are either
routinely performed off-premise or could be performed off premise. These are most often office based
or electronic processes. As with on-site processes, non-critical processes can be delayed. The potential
to perform critical process off-site is much different than the ability to do so. Not only do remote
policies need to be developed, but employees who may be needed to work remotely should have the
opportunity to test and practice this ability. Those not accustomed to working in a remote work setting
often struggle to be productive or even complete core tasks.

The identification of persons needed to work offsite also provides the ability to ensure the remote
infrastructure is suitable to perform needed work. This also helps to determine the amount of needed
remote IT support help and efforts.

The goal of this article is not to provide a comprehensive view of the pandemic planning effort, rather it is to
highlight some of the unique challenges and opportunities associated with such an event. Other considerations
include but are not limited to:

• Incident Management Planning - event command and control
• Pandemic Plan activation criteria
• Vendor and supplier readiness and communication
• Emergency and hazard compensation
• Family and community preparedness and communication
• Travel guidance

The remainder of this document is focused on high level efforts to prevent and minimize the spread of
disease in the workplace.

Prevention

Most preventive measures recommended for COVID-19 are consistent with guidance for the seasonal flu. A
greater emphasis should be placed on these measures during periods of high risks through increased
communication and enforcement. Center for Disease Control (CDC) Guidance
(https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html)

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray
or wipe.
• Follow CDC’s recommendations for using a facemask.
o CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from
respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.
o Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread
of the disease to others. The use of facemasks is also crucial for health workers and people who are
taking care of someone in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the
bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
o If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60%
alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.

Increased communication and enforcement of “stay home if you are sick” policies may result in the need for
modified company sick policies – increasing the number of allowable days during high risk periods, eliminating
the need for doctor notes, etc. Due to the potentially long incubation period for the COVID-19, employers may
need to accommodate employee self-isolation for up to 14 days. Parents and caregivers may also need to take
time off to care for sick children and/or seniors, as well as during periods of school closures. Non-modified
absenteeism policies may encourage sick or potentially infectious employees to come to work.

In addition to improved personal hygiene, organizations can increase the frequency and visibility of cleaning
efforts. The goal is to not only lessen the chance of infection, but also to help mitigate employee concerns and
fear. Employees should be encouraged to share preventative measures with their families, as well. Failure by
employees and their families to practice the necessary level of care at home can mitigate any efforts that are
taken in the workplace.

While EPA officials believe many currently available disinfectants will be effective against COVID-19, tests have
yet to be completed that confirm exactly which disinfectants are able to kill the virus. Once a determination of
which products kill the virus and an understanding of how long it lives outside of the body are made,
actionable guidance will be made to help control the spread of the disease. Once this information is known,
communicating it to the workforce will help to curb concerns and fears associated with coming to work.

Communication of increased hygiene and cleaning combined with social distancing guidance will provide
organizations an increased likelihood of maintaining core operations during a pandemic event.

The best course of action during any potential business interruption event is situational awareness and
communication. Staying abreast of rapidly evolving situations and regular communication of factual
information to internal team members and external stakeholders put organizations in the best position
possible to mitigate the impact and fully recover from the event. Several resources are provided at the end of
this article that will help organizations stay current with the situation and provide the most current
information available to prevent its impact.

In the coming weeks and months, much more will be known about COVID-19 and how as a global society we
        can come together to mitigate its impact. In addition, local departments of health and the sources below
        contain valuable information to assist organizations and individuals in their efforts to stay current with the
        event.

               •      World Health Organization (WHO) https://www.who.int/ - provides latest guidance on inter
               •      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/
               •      John Hopkins, COVID-19 interactive map
                      https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

        Should you have any questions or needs relative to planning for the potential impact of COVID-19, please
        contact:

        Jim Hedrick
        Director Risk Management & Client Experience
        513.847.0300
        Jhedrick@oswaldcompanies.com

        Sources:
        (World Health Organization (WHO) , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Hopkins, COVID-19 interactive map)

        Note: This communication is for informational purposes only. Although every reasonable effort is made to present current
        and accurate information, Oswald makes no guarantees of any kind and cannot be held liable for any outdated or
        incorrect information. View our communications policy.

© Oswald Companies. All rights reserved.                                                                           OswaldCompanies.com

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