Master Plan to prevent an Outbreak of flu in the Call Centres of the Cyber Network Services Ltd

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1 Master Plan to prevent an Outbreak of flu in the Call Centres of the Cyber Network Services Ltd Alex T C Lok Friday, 11 December 2009 Project BAM0350 (Autumn 2009) Version 3.8 SCE Consultancy Ltd Empowering your Continuity

2 History of Amendments Version Date released Major changes April 2007 Initial release February 2009 Incorporated the recommendations from post-crisis review report December 2009 Incorporated changes in personnel and physical layout of the premises Distributions Role Position Name Sponsor Chief Executive Officer Mr Mike Law Leader Chief Operations Officer Ms Fanny Pang Spokesperson (primary) Public Relations Manager Ms Helen Lo Planner / Overall Controller Security Manager Mr Tommy Chu Action Unit Leader Primary Call Centre Call Centre Manager Ms Alice Zheng Letters from Management Cyber Network Services Ltd 48 Cyber Drive, Hong Kong The Leader Crisis Management Team Present 2 March 2007 It is my great pleasure to sponsor the development and the continuous effort in managing a crisis management process in the SCE Consultancy Ltd Page 2 of 9 Cyber Network Services Ltd

3 Table of Contents History of Amendments...2 Distributions...2 Letters from Management Introduction Business Context and Value Potential Threats Scope and Scale Type and Stage of the Potential Crisis Causes and Possible Outcomes Probability and Impact Course of Action Primary Aim Objectives Declaration and Deployment Authority to Declare Declaration Procedures Deployment Procedures Emergency Procedures Crisis Communication Procedures Internal Communications External Communications Crisis Response Procedures Details of Crisis Response Manuals Fact Sheets and Reference Information Logging of Crisis Response Activities Major Differences from Drills Conclusions...8 Bibliography...8 Appendix A Contact List of the Crisis Management Team...8 Appendix B Contact List of the Major Stakeholders...9 Appendix C Fact Sheets and Reference Information...9 SCE Consultancy Ltd Page 3 of 9 Cyber Network Services Ltd

4 1. Introduction In the recent outbreak of bird flu (H5N1) and current outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1), human beings are subject to fierce attack from epidemic diseases. It is very important to get ready if the situation becomes 1.1 Business Context and Value Cyber Network Services Ltd is an Internet service provider (ISP) providing budget service to household Internet users. To serve customer enquiries, the company has two customer hotline call centres where about 400 staff members take shift duties round-the-clock. The physical environment of the call centres is just acceptable. 1.2 Potential Threats Duty staff members have to share office equipment including computers, headphones, and microphones. Shift duty is another factor which causes staff tired. Moreover, in the upcoming chilled winters and the humid springs, common cold and flu will be prevailed. Since the symptoms are quite similar (Harries 2006), it is easy to get confused and easy to have the relevant responses delayed to deploy. Therefore, the call centres should critically identify an outbreak of flu and control its spread at the earliest possible instance. 2. Scope and Scale The crises that can be handled within the available skills and resources are flu, influenza A (H1N1), 2.1 Type and Stage of the Potential Crisis The outbreak of flu is a low-intensity crisis because it has diffuse source and uncertain origin of cause. It is now in the acute crisis stage because the outbreak is expected in December until March of the following year. 2.2 Causes and Possible Outcomes Causes: sharing of office equipment can be media of spreading epidemic diseases; staff members being tired due to shift duties; densely crowded environment with poor air-conditioning; and some staff members can be media of spreading diseases even though without symptoms. SCE Consultancy Ltd Page 4 of 9 Cyber Network Services Ltd

5 Outcomes: outbreak of flu in the call centres causing high absences; staff members being overloaded; complaints from staff and customers; increase in group medical premium; and loss of business 2.3 Probability and Impact Probability is higher than other threats during the same period of time. Impact will be medium when there are absences due to infection. Mitigation measures to prevent and handle the outbreak are essential. 2.4 Course of Action The course of action consists of a primary aim and four objectives Primary Aim The aim of the crisis management process is to prevent and handle the outbreak of flu in the call centres Objectives The objectives are listed as below: to identify an infected staff member from common cold or flu within 8 hours (refer to doctor when necessary) to report potential situation by monitoring the number of infected staff against past records at 5% infection to declare crisis situation and deploy responses at 10% infection 3. Declaration and Deployment To declare a crisis situation, there requires formal authority and clear procedures. 3.1 Authority to Declare At the situation that 10% infection has been recorded, the sponsor or the leader of the crisis management team has to declare a formal crisis situation. 3.2 Declaration Procedures Once the crisis situation has been declared, deployment of the crisis management team members is to be initiated immediately. An updated contact list can be found in Appendix A. SCE Consultancy Ltd Page 5 of 9 Cyber Network Services Ltd

6 The sponsor or the leader has to inform the planner or the overall controller and also the spokesperson using the most effective mean such as mobile telephone with the backup of using SMS and s in order to deliver the details of the situation. These details should include the type and stage of the crisis declared. 3.3 Deployment Procedures The planner or the overall controller has to inform all action unit leaders who would deploy action unit members to initiate the crisis responses. The planner or the overall controller should also decide whether to request support from external sources. The spokesperson has to decide, according to the crisis communication procedures, whether to communicate the situation to the internal staff, the employment agencies, the relevant government authorities, and the news media. 3.4 Emergency Procedures It is required to consider contacting the Accident and Emergency Department of the Cyber Care Hospital to log the possible request of emergency services. 4. Crisis Communication Procedures To facilitate formal and organised communications both internally and externally, the following procedures are required to be observed by the internal communicators, the primary and the secondary spokespersons (Benitez 2009). 4.1 Internal Communications The target audiences are all permanent, temporary, and contract staff of the call centres. Since the potential threat is independent from the status of work, there are no differences in the contents of the crisis communications among these audiences. The contents should include a brief explanation of how the critical situation was resulted; the current measures being prevailed; the latest status of the situation; and 4.2 External Communications The target audiences are restricted to the customers; the government authorities, and the news media. The contents of the crisis communications should include a brief overview of the latest status; a brief description of actions to be carried out; and the date and time of the next media release. For the communications to the government authorities, more in-depth details of the latest status will be given. These include the number of infected and their medical conditions SCE Consultancy Ltd Page 6 of 9 Cyber Network Services Ltd

7 Wherever appropriate, the major stakeholders are to be informed of the latest status. Appendix B is a list of major stakeholders with contact information. 5. Crisis Response Procedures To activate crisis responses, the following information are required. 5.1 Details of Crisis Response Manuals Crisis Response Manuals are operational procedures to tackle known cases. The following table lists the relevant response manuals; the latest version; the copies; and the physical locations where they can be found. Name Version Copies Physical Location Centre Facility CR Manual x Call Centre Managers (on shift duty) Forward Migration CR Manual Primary Call Centre; Backup Call Centre Backward Migration CR Manual Primary Call Centre, Backup Call Centre 5.2 Fact Sheets and Reference Information During crisis situation, it is essential to refer to information that was collected during the normal operations of the call centres (Peterson 2007). Appendix C lists the fact sheets and reference information as control documents. Comparison between current and past records can be made when latest figures are obtained. 5.3 Logging of Crisis Response Activities During the crisis response period, it is important to record the major activities done and events happened. The following forms should be Event Log Date Time Event Remarks :15 Crisis declared by Ms Fanny Pang Example Activity Log Date Time Activity Remarks :00 Backup Call Centre temporarily closed Example SCE Consultancy Ltd Page 7 of 9 Cyber Network Services Ltd

8 5.4 Major Differences from Drills There are no major differences of crisis response procedures from drills that regularly performed in the call centres except the atmosphere of there. In planned drills, it would be in a calm pace to tackle the issue. In real crisis, it is expected that the response teams may need to handle customer complaints 6. Conclusions To react to crisis situation, a practical procedure is essential. More importantly, prevention is the key to mitigate Bibliography Harries, B 2006, Health and Safety a Practice Guide at Home, 2 nd Edition, Thames Press, London. Benitez, M 2009, Hospital alert in calm before storm, Hong Kong, viewed 6 December 2009, < art_id=90906&sid= &con_type=1&d_str= &sear_year=2009> Peterson, C 2007, Ward Management Handbook with Practical Questions and Answers, Dome Press, Portsmouth. Appendix A Contact List of the Crisis Management Team The following is a contact list of the crisis management team. Role Position Name Mobile Phone Other contact Sponsor Chief Executive Officer Mr Mike Law Leader Chief Operations Officer Ms Fanny Pang Spokesperson (primary) Spokesperson (secondary) Planner / Overall Controller Action Unit Leader Primary Call Centre External Hospital Authority Public Relations Ms Helen Lo Manager Executive Secretary Ms Sarah Ching Security Manager Mr Tommy Chu Call Centre Manager Ms Alice Zheng CCH Coordinator (emergency contact) Coordinator on duty (24 hours) SCE Consultancy Ltd Page 8 of 9 Cyber Network Services Ltd

9 Appendix B Contact List of the Major Stakeholders The following is a contact list of the major stakeholders. Nature Company Position Name Phone / Government authority OFTA Incident Manager Ms Olive Sum olives@ofta.gov.hk News media Orange Daily News Editor Ms Rita Man rman@orangenz.net News media 64-bit Weekly Magazine Editor Mr Kevin Au kevina@64b.mag Related business Cyber Imaging Ltd General Manager Mr Edward Hung ehung@cyberimaging.net Appendix C Fact Sheets and Reference Information The following are key reference information. Number of staff: 400 (3 shifts in two call centres) Call Centre Capacity: 80 (Primary Call Centre) 50 (Backup Call Centre) Flu infections: less than 10 (normal level) - End - SCE Consultancy Ltd Page 9 of 9 Cyber Network Services Ltd

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