Australia’s reaction to swine flu can be rated as anywhere between over-the-top and tragically blasé. But while this over-hyped addition to the influenza family is being alternately treated as both a joke and a genuine medical threat, for business the potential remains for it to become a very serious issue very suddenly, especially when people start failing to show up for work.
Many businesses have taken on the responsibility of educating their workforces, and this has created an opportunity for Sydney-based e-learning company 2and2. The company began developing a training module for pandemic situations during the Avain flu outbreak earlier this decade. While that particular scare ultimately did little damage to the Australian economy, it and its predecessor SARS highlighted the impact that a genuine pandemic could have on business.
The result is Pandemic Ready, a 50 page hosted e-learning and video package designed to take employees through practical measures on how to protect themselves and others in the event of a widespread outbreak.
2and2 managing director Leon Young says Pandemic Ready has been designed so that companies can integrate their own pandemic plans, with links to their intranet or other corporate resources. The modules are pushed out online to all staff so that everyone understands what the organisation's plan is and what they need to do, from information on hygiene habits to how to use pandemic kits in the event of an emergency.
The package was developed with assistance from the Federal Department of Health and Aging, including the donation of video content. It was also shaped by the package’s first client back in 2007, News Limited, but has since been significantly and expanded adopted by large organisations including the NSW State Emergency Service of and Catholic schools in NSW. In the case of Catholic Schools, the organisation was able to put 1000 staff members through training when swine flu first hit the headlines, and puts more through each day.
Pandemics aren’t 2and2’s bread and butter. The company has been developing e-learning packages for different clients for years, and more recently built its own online community for corporate sustainability managers, called Change2 .
The service combines elements of social networking with e-learning on environmental issues relating to corporations. The social networking component contains new and blogs on relevant topics, with regular updates, and provides a forum for interested individuals to communicate. You can also join groups and install applications in a similar fashion to Facebook.
2and2 may never make huge amounts of money out of Change2, but it does provide it with a channel for its e-learning modules, and may also help a few companies with their environmental programs along the way.
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