DC Area Counties Discuss Pandemic Contingencies for Businesses

At a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, county agencies, the county's two hospitals and the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce joined forces to present an overview of pandemic flu and how to prepare for it. The objective was to come up with some suggestions on creating contingency plans that would keep county services and businesses in operation should a pandemic, such as the Avian flu or other pandemic, strike the area.

Northrop Grumman, a major US defense contractor, was cited in the article on the conference as one large business that has already developed contingency plans if a widespread pandemic should occur. Northrop Grumman has all sorts of contingency plans, including allowing and making arrangements to accommodate many employees to work from home so they can continue to do their jobs, changing work schedules and determining which employees are truly "essential."

The average home business is too small to worry about needing a contingency plan and we already work from home. Still, have you given any thought about how a potential pandemic might affect your home based business?