Emergency Response and Control Plan

Introduction

Case studies from around the world prove that with any crisis, regardless of cause, there has to be proven, open, and transparent corporate Emergency Response and Crisis Communication systems in place. Without such systems, an effective grasp of command and control will be impossible. How this is reflected in your stakeholders will be critical to your survival. So the importance of leaders getting the all-important 'Corporate Communications' right the first time should never be underestimated.

If your company is faced with a crisis interruption, it has a service to maintain, it has it's good reputation and image to protect, therefore an effective and well-rehearsed Crisis Communications and Response plan has to be in place and validated, 'before the day'. Moreover, following our guidelines, there is a possibility that you can turn the Crisis to your advantage and even enhance your corporate image. Remember, being unprepared is simply unacceptable, so if your Department or Company were engulfed by a crisis, from whatever cause, would it be caught unprepared? Are you and your team trained and ready for the next crisis?

Objectives

On successful completion of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Learn the elements which are commonly encountered in an Emergency - What can go right and what can go wrong?
• Become familiar with the discharge of corporate responsibilities and the execution of decision making between all your stakeholders.
• Understand the need for coordinated planning, training, exercising, and team development
• Develop in-depth knowledge of Crisis Communications and the appropriate roles and responsibilities
• Enhance your reputation by delivering accurate information, at the right time and with the right message.
• Learn how to increase ownership and involvement of all stakeholders.
• Understand the pro-active techniques required to equate the necessary levels of competency enabling the preparation and timely implementation of the Plans.
• Discover how to have an efficient and effective corporate response to the crisis.
• Response to any crisis demands rapid decision making, so our detailed and comprehensive plans and checklists will make that decision-making process easier especially in the first 'Golden Hour'.
• Moreover, following these guidelines, there is a possibility that the organization can turn the Crisis to advantage and enhance corporate image.
• Implement coordinated Command and Control techniques.

Training Methodology

This is an interactive course. There will be open question and answer sessions, regular group exercises and activities, videos, case studies, and presentations on best practices. Participants will have the opportunity to share with the facilitator and other participants what works well and not so well for them, as well as work on issues from their own organizations. The course is conducted online using MS-Teams/ClickMeeting.

Who Should Attend?

The course is designed for those whose actions and decisions have critical implications for their organization and those who wish to further develop their strategic communication and leadership capabilities. In most organizations, this emergency response and strategy process extend to all professionals, shift superintendents, and team leaders.

Course Outline

Day 1: Developing Emergency Response Plans and techniques for the 24/7 world

• Course introduction - aims and objectives of the event
• Who and what should be involved in the Crisis Communications course?
• Consider the number of stakeholders in a Business Crisis
• Seven steps to creating a crisis communication strategy:
• What should be in the Crisis Communications and Response Plan?
• What can cause a Communications Crisis and what is the potential life cycle?
• What preparations are necessary for the planning/pre-crisis stage?
• Potential areas of concern - 'Crisis what Crisis?
• Case Studies. Companies who got it right and those who got it wrong!
• The Auditing Process - Self-Evaluation questions and Syndicate questions.

Day 2: Minimizing your Company's Risk, Protecting, and Enhancing your Company's Reputation When a Crisis Hits.

• Review of Day One.
• Managing the Crisis. Command & Control issues:
• Strategic; Tactical & Operational;
• Decision making in Crisis situations;
• Crisis Management Team;
• Emergency Communications Centre;
• Media Management Guidelines and 20 point communications checklist:
• Organizing and managing press conferences
• How to conduct successful TV and radio interviews
• Crisis Management vs. Crisis Communications.
• Session ends with a syndicate workshop session. The task: to rapidly provide a media statement for the CEO in response to a major incident​

Day 3: Implementing Coordinated Command and Control Techniques.

• Review of Day Two
• On-scene management, what are the leadership and communication issues?
• Protecting your Reputation: Business Continuity Management (BCM)
• Have you identified the essential core functions? Following a major disruption (including terrorism) what are your recovery priorities?
• Case Study - Union Carbide. Bhopal
• What is Reputational Risk and why is communication about risk important?
• What types of risk do your company and any nearby face?
• Why is good communication important in dealing with risk?
• What factors are likely to increase public concern about risks?
• Understanding how the media reacts to risk and why is this important?
• The Toolkit - best practice examples in protecting your Reputation.
• How good communication can help prevent risk from becoming a crisis​

Day 4: Crisis Communications are Judged Not by Content Alone, But Also By Source; Who Is Telling Me This, and Should I Believe Them?

• Review of day three
• Alerting and Warning Stakeholders
• The myths and realities of Crisis Communication Strategies:
• What do we know about the crisis, what do we want people to know, and how do we communicate it effectively?
• Communicating - making sure those stakeholders who need to know are briefed initially and then kept informed until the crisis is played out.
• How do we make our communications meaningfully two-way, and how do we keep our audiences active rather than passive?
• How to reassure, how to sound confident, how to address emotion,
• Case Study - Occidental. Piper Alpha
• Managing the Human Aspects of Crisis Response.​

Day 5: The 17 Benefits of Exercising You Plans

• Review of day 4
• Workshop and Exercise - this 'desk-top' communications exercise demands rapid decisions to given scenarios
• Exercise Design - developing training exercises for the Crisis Response Team
• Choose the right type of exercise
• Starting the exercise - Information during the exercise - De-brief - Final Report - Closing the Loop - Implementing the recommendations
• Exercise Design
• Develop an action plan of learning from incidents, drills and exercises
• Discuss personal action plans