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USC prepared for all risks
2 May 2009
Because we are now one of the largest institutions on the Coast, with nearly 6,500 students, over 1000 staff on the payroll, and hundreds of visitors every week, we need to analyse every potential risk to our operation quickly and thoroughly as soon as we are aware of its existence and potential.
For example, as soon as the ‘Swine Flu’ epidemic was signaled, our various risk teams were activated. It is obviously better to gauge our responses early, in the hope that a pandemic does not eventuate, rather than be more hesitant and be left to react belatedly.
Like all universities, we are becoming increasingly globally connected. Staff and students spend time here from the Americas, and some USC staff and students are variously connected, or visit, the Americas.
We are, therefore, because of our scale and our global connectedness, obligated to take the current flu outbreak and the corresponding threat of a pandemic, very seriously.
The risk teams have already analysed the implications for their respective areas of operation within the University, and their leaders reported last week on the actions that may be needed, if the pandemic became real. All senior staff of the University were involved in that meeting which I chaired.
At present, simple precautionary health measures have already been taken to emphasise personal hygiene issues in particular.
But if the international situation worsens then, with guidance from Queensland Health, we will correspondingly escalate our responses consistent with the level of risk for staff, students and the community.
These mirror risk analyses we regularly conduct whenever there are possible emerging threats, whether they are fires, storms and cyclones, electricity failures, flu viruses or anything that we gauge could impact USC.
Let’s hope that the current threat subsides and is contained, and if at the end of the day, it was claimed that we over-reacted, all of us would rather be accused of that than being underprepared for a sudden escalation of this already serious outbreak to pandemic status.
Professor Paul Thomas AM is Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of the Sunshine Coast.