More than three in four UK risk managers have set up a committee to monitor a possible flu outbreak, says the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers.

AIRMIC's survey of 124 members revealed that 79% had appointed an individual to coordinate their pandemic plan following the recent cases of swine flu and 76% already had a pandemic continuity plan in place. But only 30% of members had access to antiviral medication for employees.

Asked to name their top two concerns, 54% cited ''loss of staff through illness" and 46% said they worried over a possible "inability to serve customers."

Other major concerns were general economic disruption (26%), supply chain disruption (23%) and staff catching the flu from colleagues (22%).

Around half of the risk managers surveyed said their company had restricted overseas travel since the H1N1 flu outbreak began. A similar number had contingency plans to enable employees to work from home if the number of cases accelerated and 18% said their companies had plans to restrict internal meetings.

"The issue remains, will there be a swine flu pandemic and, if so, how severe will it be?" commented AIRMIC's chair Julia Graham.

"The World Health Organisation alert levels do not indicate how bad a pandemic might be, and Phase 5 is a reflection of transmission and immune vulnerability, rather than an indicator of the severity of the outcome. Severity levels could change at any time. Organisations should treat current events as a 'dress rehearsal' and remain prepared."

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