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Case has been adapted from article – Why global businesses should be prepared for pandemics

, D., (October 08, 2015), Why global businesses should be prepared for pandemics, retrieved from , accessed on January 26th 2020.

The recent spate of emerging infectious disease outbreaks has led many international companies to question just how prepared they are to deal with pandemics. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has particularly changed the way society at large considers, prepares for, and responds to health crises.

Since the outbreak earlier last year, people have realised that health security is an issue of global concern, and preventing the spread of infectious disease requires complex and multi-sector preparedness and response. Global C-suite executives are asking 'are we adequately prepared to protect our employees, our communities and our overall business objectives when the next outbreak occurs?'

Workers are more mobile than ever, and with PricewaterhouseCoopers predicting that there will be a  by 2020 the movement of international labour is firmly set to continue. However, the increase in business travel and cross-border labour migration can spread infectious diseases across a wide geographic area in a short amount of time. Regardless of where a company does business, if they have employees they have risk.

While most nations have made , the degree of preparedness and the extent to which all sectors of society are included in those plans vary greatly. Especially vulnerable are organisations that operate in, or have travelers to, developing countries. These places are likely to have limited public health systems and less extensive preparedness for outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Authorities have urged everyone, including the business community, to  for the next pandemic. A much closer partnership with regional, national and international stakeholders – including multilateral health agencies – is essential in order to reduce the risks of health emergencies.

Infectious disease and pandemic preparedness is a necessity for business continuity and the long-term viability of operations. It is a business-wide initiative involving risk managers, human resources, occupational health practitioners, and the C-suite.

Questions

1. Define Occupational Health and Safety (2 marks)

2. Identify and explain three (3) possible health and safety issues that HR may have to deal with in local and international companies; expound on one of these using evidence from the case.(8marks)

3. Discuss the four (4) Human Resource Strategies that HR can use promote employee health and safety.(16 marks)