The Business Disaster Management Programm - Term Paper Example

Disaster management contingency plan BY YOU YOUR INFORMATION HERE HERE Contents Purpose of document Definitions Responsibilities Procedure Reporting of incident Implementation of procedure Control of information After the incident Incident review Advice to agents Disaster management contingency plan Purpose of document This risk management and disaster contingency plan identifies the potential risks of the business venture in relationship to its liabilities and obligations to the health and welfare of ship and crew. It is designed as a tool to recognize potential problems that might occur during the course of service provision and the risk mitigation or combatant efforts necessary to handle on board situations. It will serve as an organizational guideline and command system in the event of ship emergencies. Definitions On-board scenarios include natural disasters in the form of rogue waves or other atmospheric and oceanic situations. It includes fire prevention, fire fighting practices, and pirating activities as they might impact business operations or the well-being of ship and crew. Because this represents a luxury market, kidnapping and resource plundering as the result of pirating activities, which are on the rise, must be recognized. Fire represents the largest assessed risk for the business’ disaster management programme. In the event of disaster situations, the vessel and its associated dispatch and control teams will establish an incident control system modelled after that in use by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The ICS structure “establishes common terminology that allows diverse incident management and support entities to work together across a wide variety of incident management functions and hazard scenarios” (thebreakingnews.com, 2004, p.16). ICS modelling for incident control provides an organizational framework by which to handle different real-time disaster situations. In the event of a fire scenario, the officer in charge is the vessel captain who will coordinate efforts via telecommunications with dispatch headquarters. _______________. Dispatch efforts will include making appropriate contact with local coast guard authorities if the situation cannot be controlled effectively by the officer in charge as well as the Fire Brigade. ______________________ In the event of pirating activities, the officer in charge is the vessel captain who will handle the organizational dynamics associated with contingency efforts to manage the scenario. ________ Responsibilities The existence of rogue waves and other atmospheric phenomenon is a genuine risk to operating the business and pose potential risks to the health and safety on crew and customers. There are no appropriate mitigation risks in the event of these scenarios, however wave measurement technology includes fully-functional measurement systems to identify risk (chl.erdc.army.mil, 2009). It is the responsibility of the information technology support team to ensure these technologies are implemented on board and functioning properly for ongoing risk mitigation. This is controlled at the operational and organizational levels and will be run through diagnostic systems checks periodically as mandated by technology needs. In the event of pirating scenarios, the responsibility for negotiating or avoiding the scenario is the responsibility of the vessel captain who will coordinate efforts with crew members if avoidance proves impossible. The control methodologies in place available for pirating activities are and should be coordinated at this level with safety protocol in place for the customers at risk. In the event of fire, the situation must be assessed by the crew captain to determine whether it can be controlled effectively or whether established fire evacuation procedures are required. Crew members are also authorized to assess the level of risk the fire scenario poses and then use pre-existing fire suppression systems as pre-established by operational fire procedures on board. The involvement of non-employee crew members should be minimized in the event of fire. Procedure As identified, the level of risk posed by the fire scenario must first be assessed by crew who should use standard operating procedure to combat the situation. If it is proven to be impossible to control, the captain and crew should contact the Fire Brigade and immediately ensure that the boat is emptied. If possible and within reasonable time constraints provided by the assessed scenario, crew members should be instructed to turn off all gas cylinder valves or remove such systems (when applicable) and drop them off the boat (london-fire.gov.uk, 2010). If the risk of fire is assessed as uncontrollable by onboard suppression systems, standard evacuation procedures should be followed that insure proper customer availability of personal flotation devices. Ninety percent of boating-related deaths are from drowning (seattle.gov, 2009). If the fire scenario cannot be controlled using standard operational combatant tools found on board, dispatch systems at headquarters will coordinate all efforts with local coast guard and search and rescue teams. They should be controlled at the operational and organizational levels of the business as it is the responsibility of crew to ensure client safety and coordinate evacuation efforts. In the event of pirating, responsibility of risk and danger assessment relies on the captain as a command moderator. In the event of attack, the vessel should first increase its speed and manoeuvre to create a wake that would make it difficult for pirates to attach ladders or any other device that would gain them access on board (Phillips, 2009). The operating budget provides opportunities to equip vessels with high-pressure water cannons as a means to repel attackers, recommended as an appropriate non-lethal combat effort (Kanter, 2008). On board crew members should be well-trained in these practices through organisational training methodology pre-established through organisational policy and procedure. In the event that the situation cannot be controlled, to ensure the well-being of customers, “consider bolt holes and places where you can take refuge should conditions deteriorate” (mcga.gov.uk, 2009, p.3). Implementation of procedure In the event of fire, the captain will notify the dispatch headquarters of the severity of the problem. Dispatch will conduct pre-set operating procedures and make contact with the Fire Brigade or appropriate coast guard services. If possible based on assessed risk, officials from either public service office will communicate via radio or on board telecommunications systems to discuss the scenario and coordinate activities on board or in relation to search and rescue. Depending on the duration and assessment of fire risk, crew will guarantee proper fit and securitization of floatation devices and coordinate activities related to the launch of emergency rafts on board as part of operational and regulatory procedures. It is necessary that the crew and captain maintain control of the situation if emergency rafts are provided and maintain emotional control to calm panic or other behavioural responses from clients evacuated. These will be established through pre-existing management and leadership training provided in-house to captain and crew of each vessel. In the event of pirating, as is possible on the vessel, customers should first be moved to safer on-board accommodations as the situation is assessed for potential risk. Contact in the event of pirating should be made with appropriate dispatch who will handle the organizational process of contacting local policing authorities and search and rescue teams should these services be required. The captain and/or crew will notify dispatch of their GPS coordinates provided by on-board technologies and this information will be relayed to appropriate services and agencies via incorporated system technologies and mobile communications. Control of information Under the incident command structure used, information will be controlled at dispatch and organisational levels. Because the risk and assessment procedures on board will be limited to the volume of crew members allowed on yacht vessels, proper management of information should occur with land-based operations teams. All information related to the incident will be recorded via database systems at operations and communications as they are relayed by policing and search and rescue authorities will be documented via these same communications mediums. The dispatch officer will maintain an accurate and detailed record of all discussions, making note of times, names and any contacts made with third party agencies. After the incident Based on the disaster scenario and its severity to loss of life or loss of assets, organizational teams will contact the company’s insurance providers. Insurance premiums when sailing through known risk regions have risen by 40 percent in recent years (Phillips, 2009). Because of the high investment and need for insurance coverage in this industry, all documentation regarding contact with insurance providers should follow the same incident command and database recording systems. The crew and organizational teams at headquarters will establish dialogue with appropriate regulatory agents regarding the incident for public and business documentation. This will ensure that liability is reduced and there is an accurate public record of events in their order of occurrence. This information should be provided and documented not only for business liability reduction but to ensure that customers have this resource available as the risk of their providing legal interference after fire or pirating scenarios is significant. It is necessary as the risk management efforts post-incident to ensure proper record-keeping and coordination with local regulatory committees and agent representatives. Incident Review Review will be dependent on the nature of the incident. For on-board fires that have been controlled using appropriate on-board suppression tools, organizational group members will work directly with insurance assessors after returning the vessel to port. The organizational team, prior to consultation with adjustor representatives, will take photographs of the vessel’s interior and exterior to document its condition upon returning to port. These photos will be compared to pre-existing photographs of the interior that were taken upon launch of the vessels. Review will consist of maintaining a pictorial record of the disaster against original vessel documentation. The intention of this procedure is to ensure that the interests related to insurance coverage and claims processing are protected through visual and written record. Post-incident, organizational members and on board crew will discuss how the situation was handled and then establish a new best practice methodology for future risk management efforts. The method by which the situation was resolved or required external assistance will determine what future steps to take forward as a risk mitigation tool. These will consist of structured and formalized meetings with senior management, dispatch and the crew involved with the incident to identify strengths or weaknesses to how the situation was handled. If the fire or pirating loss resulted in complete loss of the asset, the depth of review will be considerably more involved and consist of several disaster assessment meetings that may include third party regulatory parties. Post-incident internal human resources personnel will review the standard operating procedures and identify opportunities to change the language or procedural steps involved with risk mitigation or disaster combat activities. Each time an incident is reported, it should be documented that human resources has evaluated alternatives as compared to standard operating procedure and those provided by regulatory authorities that govern ship-board operations. Every time an incident occurs, human resources will be involved as a tool for restructuring standard procedure or just documenting its review for insurance, regulatory and future risk management efforts. Review meetings and involvement in human resources will serve as an internal and external environmental scan that identifies weaknesses or supports the strengths of existing procedural documentation. If these efforts identify new on-board systems, based against organisational resources, that are better suited for disaster prevention, new operational procedures will be included in the appropriate training curriculum for on-board crew. Reactions and testimony from customers involved in these incidents will also be compared to knowledge associated with operational and disaster procedure and used to improve client relationship literature in the event of disasters. Advice to agents The liabilities associated with insurance costs, the risk of legal complications from customers involved in on-board disaster scenarios, and the reputation of a luxury service provider brand are dependent on the qualified talents of crew and organizational group members. The goal is to first secure the interests of the customers and then consider how to protect the business’ asset using standard operating procedure or innovative risk mitigation strategies. The key is to sustain quality communications between ship and organizational staff and ensure that all discussions and efforts are documented, hour by hour as required, and stored effectively in headquarter technologies. During the course of a real-time on-board disaster, all affected parties in the incident command system should consider their long-term impact based on activities to the business’ profit and reputation. References Chl.erdc.usace.army.mil. (2009). [internet] Coastal engineering – Technical Note, US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. [accessed 30.11.2010] [available at http://chl.erdc.usace.army.mil/library/publications/chetn/pdf/cetn-i-26.pdf] Kanter, J. (2008). Protecting your treasure, Supply Management. 13, 24, p.14. London-fire.gov.uk. (2010). [internet] Caravans and Boats, London Fire Brigade. [accessed 30.11.2010] [available at http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/CaravansAndBoats.asp] Mcga.gov.uk. (2009). [internet] Maritime and Coastguard Agency – Information on the regulations applicable to pleasure vessels [accessed 30.11.2010] [available at http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-dqs-cvs-pleasure_craft_information_pack-web_document-3.pdf] Phillips, Z. (2009). Kidnap and ransom cover gives ship owners certainty, Business Insurance. 43, 16, p.46. Phillips, Z. (2009). Rise in pirate attacks puts security in focus, Business Insurance. 43, 16, pp.1-2. Seattle.gov. (2009). [internet] Marina Fire Safety, Seattle Fire Department. [accessed 30.11.2010] [available at http://www.seattle.gov/fire/pubEd/brochures/Marina%20Fire%20Safety.pdf] Thebreakingnews.com. (2004). [internet] Homeland Security National Incident Management System. [accessed 30.11.2010] [available at http://www.thebreakingnews.com/files/articles/national-incident-management-system.pdf] Read More