Businesses around the world see an influenza pandemic as a very real threat to their futures, yet they are doing little to prepare for it, according to Aon.
Aon's new survey shows that 85.5% of respondents view a possible influenza pandemic as a threat to their business, but only 57% have put measures in place to protect themselves against such a risk.
Employee absence appears to be of greatest concern, with over three quarters (77%) of those surveyed ranking this as a significant risk.
Of those companies that do have measures in place to mitigate the impact of an influenza pandemic, the favoured form of protection is through a business continuity plan, with 52.5% of respondents having such plans in place.
However, the survey reveals that 61% of those with such plans have not factored them into their overall risk management strategy, and 69% have never tested the effectiveness or suitability of such plans to deal with the risks facing their businesses.
Hugh Leighton, risk consultant at Aon, said: "For many companies around the world SARS [Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome], like Y2K, was the dog that did not bark and many believe that ‘bird flu' will be a repeat of those experiences. Yet SARS had a significant impact on business in Asia and the lessons of that effect have not been learnt.
“Business continuity plans must be robust, tried and tested. We cannot encourage companies enough to ensure that this is the case and that they are fully prepared to deal effectively with the human issues related to a potential flu pandemic.”
