Business continuity briefs:
18th January 2006

'Business continuity briefs' provides a summary of new product and services press releases and other useful resources published in the last 24 hours.

IEEE-USA warns of urgent need to upgrade the US’s power infrastructure
An article in the IEEE-USA publication ‘Today's Engineer’ has warned that significant upgrades are needed to repair the United States' “crumbling infrastructure”, including $50 billion to improve the national power grid over the next five years. "As power demand increases by 50 percent in 20 years so will the problem of getting it to the user, as well as the prospect for further blackouts, if reliability is not improved," states the article.

IBM reports 2005 fourth-quarter results
IBM has announced fourth-quarter 2005 diluted earnings per common share of $2.01 from continuing operations, including 10 cents per share for a one-time pretax curtailment charge of $267 million relating to changes to the US defined benefit pension plans, effective January 1, 2008. Diluted earnings per share for the fourth-quarter 2005 were $2.11, excluding this one-time charge. Fourth-quarter income from continuing operations was $3.2 billion, including the one-time charge for pension changes. This compares with $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2004. Without the one-time charge, income from continuing operations of $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005 increased $541 million, or 19 percent versus the comparable period last year. Read the full results

Pandemic Flu - Workplace Guidance
The UK Health and Safety Executive has published a new document with the above title which provides advice to business on pandemic influenza. The short PDF includes general advice from HSE for employers/employees concerned about exposure to pandemic flu at work. It also offers information on how the agents that cause influenza and pandemic influenza are classified under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended) (COSHH). Read the document

Katrina Index: tracking Post-Katrina reconstruction
A resource has been made available by the Brookings Institution which indexes nearly 50 economic and social indicators that measure Katrina rebuilding efforts and their impacts. The index will be updated monthly through Dec. 2006. Go there

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•Date: 18th January 2006• Region: Various