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At The Clorox Company, we have had contingency plans in place for several years for large-scale health issues, in addition to our general business continuity and emergency response plans. In response to the H1N1 flu pandemic, we’re using these plans to help ensure the continuation of our business operations and product supply, to promote public awareness and education, and, most importantly, to help ensure the health and well-being of our workforce.
Supply assurance and business continuity
We’re proud of our business recovery program, which was designed to be consistent with Incident Command System and National Incident Management System models. With the active support of our CEO and the Clorox Executive Committee, we conduct regular exercises at facilities across the company to test employee preparedness and identify opportunities for ongoing improvement.
We first developed a pandemic plan in 2006, in response to the SARS and avian flu outbreaks. The plan is updated as needed to reflect current data from multiple pandemic planning resources, such as the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
We operate a flexible manufacturing network and we have the ability to shift production among plants if needed. Our Product Supply and customer-support teams are working hard to ensure our products are readily available when and where needed to respond to the H1N1 flu pandemic. In addition, as part of normal operations, we constantly monitor the performance and capacity of our suppliers to ensure their ability to meet the demands of our business, and to minimize the risk of potential business disruptions.
Public awareness and education
We have a long history of working with public health agencies to educate consumers about steps they can take to help protect themselves and their families from flu. Among the agencies we work with are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Visiting Nurse Association of America (VNAA), Families Fighting Flu (FFF), National Education Association (NEA) and public health professionals. All of our communications are educational in nature and based on recommendations from these agencies.
With this year’s heightened concerns, we have updated some of our communications to provide consumers with information on H1N1 flu. We’re continuing to provide public service announcements to media outlets in the U.S. and abroad, distribute in-store educational materials to our retail customers, and implement an Internet search program driving consumers to information about H1N1 flu.
Following the initial outbreak, we donated more than 18,000 cases of Clorox® regular bleach to international relief and governmental agencies in the areas most affected. In September 2009, Clorox, in partnership with the National Education Association, donated more than 100,000 canisters of Clorox disinfecting wipes to teachers across the U.S. We will continue to work with the appropriate agencies to coordinate product donations as the need arises.
Workforce safety
Of course, our first concern is for the health and well-being of our workforce. We have cross-functional teams working on preventive and contingency plans to help ensure the safety of our people. We are providing a range of educational information and resources at our offices and manufacturing facilities — from plans for increased janitorial services focused on disinfection of high-traffic areas, to free distribution of disinfecting products and tips for protecting our workforce and their families.
We’ll continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate actions to help ensure the safety of our employees and continuation of our business operations. For more information, visit www.clorox.com or www.TheCloroxCompany.com.
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