ORC Survey on Business Response to the Influenza A H1N1 Outbreak - Executive Summary

In April 2009, businesses, schools, governments, health organizations, and individuals across the globe were focused on the potentially devastating spread of the Influenza A H1N1 virus. While the virus has proven to be, at least at the time of this writing, less severe than originally thought just a few weeks earlier ORC believes there is value in examining and learning from the collective company responses during one of the more critical weeks of the virus’s evolution.

From April 30 through May 6, ORC Worldwide collected information related to business response to the spread of the Influenza A H1N1 virus on behalf of the members of the ORC Networks community. More specifically, ORC collected information from 101 member companies related to four areas:

• Business-related travel
• Post-travel-related actions
• Infection control and health protection
• Emergency evacuations of expatriates in affected areas

It is our hope that through surveys such as this one, ORC Worldwide can contribute to advancing the state of preparedness for any future events requiring swift yet thoughtful action to ensure business continuity and personal safety.

While a detailed survey document has been made available to the ORC members who responded to the survey, the attached summary is being made available.  Additionally, many ORC member companies have generously offered to share various policies and documentation related to business continuity and pandemic planning. For more information, please visit ORC Worldwide’s Environmental Health & Safety Center of Excellence at www.orcehs.org.