UK Resilience

Chapter 3 - Communications

Introduction

It is essential that the organisation communicates its plans speedily and effectively with all those with whom it does business, for example:

• Employees (who will need to be told what to do).
• Neighbours.
• Local Authorities and enforcement bodies.
• Customers or clients.
• Suppliers.
• Shareholders, bankers and the stock market.
• The local media (radio, television and newspapers).

The plan will have to cover not only emergency communications for the immediate aftermath of the disaster (radios and cellular telephones), but also longer term measures, e.g. having telephone calls diverted to alternate locations, possibly run by a specialist contractor, or diversion of mail to pre-designated premises. Key points to include in the plan are:

• Internal and external communications
• Locations of existing facilities.
• Sources of supply for additional cellular telephones or two-way radios, remembering that there may be black spots where their use is not possible.
• What to do if use of the cell-phone system is restricted to emergency services use under Access Overload Control for Cellular Radio telephones (ACCOLC) procedures.
• Control of radio communications.
• Telephone procedures and duties of switchboard operators.
• Assignment of diary/log keepers to ensure proper records of messages and decisions, particularly important for any form of future enquiry.
• How to get information to all staff if the disaster occurs outside normal working hours.
• How to handle calls from relatives if the disaster occurs in business hours or when staff are travelling to and from work.
• The manner in which messages are to be fed to the media.

Remember also that the media can be swiftly at the scene, often within minutes, reporting what they see to the local community as the incident unfolds. This can create many worried families and so plans must include arrangements for notifying next-of-kin about what has happened. Good relations with the media are extremely important and at least one person, specially trained, should be designated to act as your focus with the media. Plans are also needed to ensure that non-involved staff are kept informed and are told about any changes which may affect them. You should also be aware in your planning that, if the incident is widespread, the cellular telephone system will become severely overloaded and you may therefore not be able to use it.

People

Too often plans are made without proper consultation with the staff involved. They may, for example, need to accept that disaster may require them to change their work patterns or work area. Experience indicates that staff morale is likely to remain high among those immediately involved with the response to a disaster. Indeed, they will probably take pride in being seen to be equal to an emergency. However, morale can be adversely affected by fatigue, and increasing fatigue will, in addition, normally reduce the effectiveness of an individual's performance. It would be unwise, therefore, for any organisation affected by an emergency to commit all of its resources - human or material -at the outset. It is essential to keep something in reserve so that members of staff can be relieved as they tire - and they will tire more quickly under stress - and given time to rest and recoup their energies.

It must also be remembered that the psychological impact of a disaster on members of staff may only become apparent some time after the disaster happened. Counselling may therefore be needed not only in the immediate aftermath but over an extended period.

Public Relations

The public relations part of the plan has to cover a wide range of activities. This will be crucial if the cause of the disaster can be attributable in any way to an act or omission of the organisation. Poor handling of the media has led to the destruction of companies. Skilful handling of the media can go a long way to defusing potentially hostile comment. The fact that a company has clearly taken great care to plan properly will result in less aggressive handling of the incident by the media, and to have discussed with the media beforehand their requirements and your organisation's operation will be of enormous benefit should disaster strike. Key points to note are:

• The nomination of official media trained spokesmen.
• Co-ordination of media management with the emergency services and other affected businesses i.e. everyone should "sing from the same hymn-sheet".
• Contact lists of journalists and radio/television stations.
• Consideration of the need for a public relations consultant.
• Placement of advertisements in local or national papers to inform the public and customers of the situation.
• Production of an emergency newsletter to staff, customers and associated organisations.
• Access to specialist facilities, e.g. telephone answering services in cases of product contamination.
• Pre-prepared background facts on the organisation, functions, safety record, personalities etc.

Liaison with the Emergency Services

It is important to talk to the appropriate officers of the emergency services before they are needed. You need to know how they may react to an incident and the powers they have e.g. police cordons, fire service may prohibit access to buildings. An outline of how the emergency services may respond is set out in Annex A. In the case of very large premises or where dangerous materials are stored it is almost certain that the police and fire service will already have emergency plans to deal with incidents because of statutory requirements. For smaller organisations it is important to ensure that the company disaster plan dovetails with emergency service arrangements.

Other issues which need to be considered

There are a number of other factors which you will need to consider for your plan. These include:

Data protection and recovery arrangements, for example:

• Procedures for back-up and off-site storage.
• Mutual aid for running programs.
• Sources of replacement equipment and software.
• Details and data relating to customers and suppliers
• Key plant or equipment, such as:
  • Identification of what may be needed, particularly specific or unusual IT requirements.
  • Dependency on a third party supplier and robustness of this supply.
  • Methods of protection or replacement.
  • Stockpiling or sources of spares or components.
  • Availability of transport. Forecast of needs.
  • Designation of alternate sites for operations.
  • Essential stationery, company cheque-books etc.

Manpower and personnel, for example:

• Details of key staff (additional or secondary skills).
• In-house fire and salvage teams.
• Sources of external assistance and mutual aid.
• Medical support, including health screening.
• Assistance with loss of personal effects such as house and car keys, and changing home locks if keys have been lost.

Logistical support for the disaster response management team, for example:

• Food and accommodation.
• Relief personnel.
• Message relay personnel.

Security concerns, for example:

• Site protection.
• Availability of keys for access to controlled areas or services.
• Reception of emergency services.
• Assigned rendezvous points.
• Management of the media and other visitors.
• Support from local police.

Financial concerns, for example:

• Bank overdraft facilities.

There may be others special to your business, and these will become apparent during training sessions and during exercises.