A dynamic risk-based approach to managing a pandemic

A pandemic is a unique natural disaster that will pose challenges for any organisation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, organisations of all types have struggled to maintain operations while assuring the health and wellbeing of the various persons who work on their behalf. Certainly, many organisations have found that their risk management and business continuity plans fail to consider adequately the disruption associated with a pandemic caused by a novel pathogen. As this paper discusses, this suggests a need to revisit risk assessments and business impact analyses; the assumptions and timeframes on which they are based; and the plans that they have generated. The paper argues that static plans are ill-suited to address the evolving threat of pandemic, and that effective planning and management of pandemic response must be dynamic in nature.