Crisis Management
In Practice
Crisis management is accepted as an
important part of an organisation’s risk management program but too
often our best intentions to prepare a plan are overtaken by the
constant battle of “fighting fires” on a daily basis at the coalface.
After all, “it will never happen to us” – these things only happen to
other organisations. Often it is not until the “crisis” actually occurs
that we realise just how deficient (or non existent) our planning has
been.
In this edition of the IEA Sport Monthly
Update we reproduce with permission an article written by Peter Fox, the
Manager of Tattersall’s Hobart Aquatic Centre (THAC) which appears in
the October/November 2003 edition of Australasian Leisure Management.
This article provides a real life example of crisis management,
outlining the management response to a major fire in the plant room of THAC in the early hours of 4th April 2001 that eventually saw
the venue shut down for a period of twenty-six weeks. The following is
taken from Peter’s article.
In recent years there have been many
papers written on crisis management as we experience a wide range of new
security issues in our day-to-day work, and crisis management now has a
wide range of terms that ultimately deal with the management of an
unforeseen, unexpected event that has a major impact on normal regular
business. These plans, variously referred to as crisis management
plans, critical incident plans, disaster recovery plans, business
contingency/continuity plans, and simply back-up plans deal, whatever
your business, with unexpected situations in business operations, and
the better the plans are prepared, the more useful they are in the
unfortunate event that they have to be employed.
With regard to the
THAC fire, while the Centre did not have a fully documented crisis
management plan, |
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management had experience in managing venue shut
downs gained during the gas crisis and a cryptosporidia outbreak in
Victoria. Using the experience gained from these events, the
first procedures that were implemented were to manage the immediate
impact on the staff, membership, program enrolments, and major user
groups.
As the Centre's physical access was restricted due to toxic fumes, a
temporary administration and call centre was quickly established
offsite, which greatly assisted the initial impact, and provided a base
for members, guests and staff. However, prior to all this, the
following timetable outlines the successful management of this incident:
5.05am The Duty Manager arrives and as she
made her way through the venue heard an explosion in the plant room.
The fire alarm activated, the venue was in darkness, and the emergency
lighting activated.
5.10am A call was placed to the Manager.
5.15am Fire Services arrives.
5.20am The Manager arrives, is informed of the fire in the plant room,
that the venue is being
evacuated and assists Fire Services in accessing the plant room and
shutting down systems.
5.25am The Manager notifies the Divisional Director (who
attends immediately); the General manager; and asks all operational
personnel to attend. City Aldermen were also notified, relevant
Divisional Directors contacted and the Centre's Board notified.
5.30am Media arrives.
5.30am Staff and members begin arriving. The fire had an
immediate impact on the business of THAC (a facility owned by the Hobart
City Council and which provides a range of aquatic, health, fitness and
leisure opportunities, catering to approximately 750,000 attendances
annually).
Continued
....
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