By Melissa Tan

COMPANIES must guard against getting complacent in the light of reports that the current H1N1 virus outbreak may be mild, Spring Singapore head of business and service excellence, Mr Yap Pao-Jui, said.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Singapore Manufacturers' Federation yesterday, Mr Yap told attendees that they might think H1N1 was mild and did not affect them severely.

'But, it could mutate into a deadlier strain in the coming second wave, like the Spanish flu in 1918. And just one incident could cause your company to close down.'

Because of this threat, businesses - especially small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - should ensure they have adequate business continuity management (BCM) to handle disruptions, he said.

He feared that a pandemic could incapacitate up to a quarter of employees, restrict people to working from home and overload communications systems.

'A crisis in another country could affect your global supply chain. Companies also need to consider how to operate with minimal face contact - especially if key staff are absent,' said Mr Yap, who has been serving on Spring's crisis management task force since the 2003 Sars outbreak.

Large multinational companies (MNCs) can better handle such crises, but SMEs would be severely impacted. 'SMEs may be reluctant to put in place full BCM measures because there is a misconception that it's expensive or just for MNCs.'

However, Mr Yap said the price of implementing BCM depended on a company's particular needs and strategy, and can be very affordable.

GS1, an SME that assigns barcodes to supplier goods and employs six staff, spent less than $1,000 for BCM against H1N1. GS1 director Wong Tack Wai said: 'It does not mean a lot of extra cash is needed, and what is spent goes a long way. H1N1's mildness is a blessing - we should treat it as practice for something worse to come.'

Makino Asia human resource section manager Lim Poh Leng told The Straits Times that the machine tool manufacturer had spent $5,000 to $6,000 over the past two months on safeguarding itself from a flu pandemic. 'We spent about $2,000 on laser gun thermometers,' Mr Lim said. 'And besides the usual equipment like masks, we have asked departments to come up with contingency plans.'

Mr Lim expects costs to escalate as Makino implements more BCM measures, but said management was likely to view such expenses as necessary, given that the company was at a critical stage of product development.

Companies interested in BCM can visit the website of the Singapore Business Federation, which runs the national BCM centre, to obtain more information on consultation and financial aid. It is located at:

www.sbf.org.sg/public/eventsvc/sbfservices/NationalBCMprogramme.jsp

This article was first published in The Straits Times.