Logistic Support Services in Impaired or Hazardous Environments - Case Study Example

Logistic Support Services in Impaired or Hazardous Environments al affiliation Logistic Support Services in Impaired or Hazardous Environments Individual project Phase 4 Objectives Identifying government agencies at the local, state, and federal level that are able to provide services in support of transportation/ logistic operations. Evaluating and Selecting private relief and human service aid organizations that are able to support transportation/logistics operations in a disaster area. Selecting and justifying the instruments, terms and conditions required to enter into agreements with either the government agencies or private relief and human service aid organizations. Introduction The resources managed in logistics can either be in the form of tangible items that include movement of materials, equipment or animals from their point of origin to the consumption point in order to meet specified requirements for customers or corporations. The logistics management can also involve abstract information like, energy, particles and time. Logistics of tangible items follows integration of the flow of information, handling of material goods, products production and their packaging, transportation of the produced goods to customers or to warehouses. They at times require security. Logistics is, therefore, the process aimed at controlling efficient flow of goods and services from the point of origin to their final destination especially to the customer through a well-planned process. For example, the integrated logistics management system is an information system that is web-based, well designed to upgrade the supply system in the state department where the entry of data is allowed one at a time. It also ensures security and openness in the sharing of information. It ensures efficient management of the flow of materials and equipment. There is a big distinction between the humanitarian logistics and relief supply chain with disaster relief (though they have complexities) and development aid. Disaster relief has several phases including preparedness, immediate response, and reconstruction phases. The focal areas of supply chain management in construction include on-sites activities, the supply chain design, transfer of activities from the point of construction and the integrated management of the site (Garnett et al, 2003). The designs of relief supply chain need to be flexible enough that they can evolve from an emergency response to the ongoing construction. Hastily formed relief Networks are usually created in where the co-relocated teams are organized in disaster areas in partnerships that link humanitarians to governments, local communities, businesses and the military with the aim of forming humanitarian aid supply network. The members of a hastily formed relief network come together with a mission to bring relief to a particular disaster. The groups do not, however, subscribe to common goals and neither do they have a common history that can be beyond the short-term deployment. Preparedness for Disaster Response These involve the activities that are preferentially used in the establishment of the organization’s readiness to respond to extreme events likely to affect the immediate community or even the entire nation. It provides with an establishment of the readiness of an organization in minimizing adverse impacts of a disaster. It means quick and active response that enhance the protection of the health and the safety of the individuals in the community together with the protection of the integrity and the functioning of the physical structures within the organization. Disaster Impact and an Organizations Logistics Performance Every country and every organization have their method of dealing and preparing for disasters. Different logistics are used in transportation. Disaster happens unexpectedly and is always unreliable and also unchangeable. It is always too vague to quantify the probability of an event from happening in uncertainty or the occurrence of a disaster. Any incident, be it natural or manmade, leading to extraordinary damage that affects the surrounding environment be referred to be catastrophic. Occurrence of a catastrophe can result to a negative effect on the economy of the country. It can also affect the life of the surrounding environment. The impacts brought about by such a disaster can have negative impacts in the country over prolonged periods of time. A disaster could be a threat to the plans of the government and also can interfere with the services of the emergency department. Factors involved in Disaster Management The organization’s management first defines the situations or areas where things might go wrong. In case things happen to go wrong, the management should take the point to appreciate the downside of the extent at which things go wrong. However, plans should be initiated with immediate effect to deal with the situations that happen unexpectedly. Strategies should be well put in place in a way that it becomes easy to deal with situations either before the situation happens or after the occurrence of a disaster. There are a number of key elements that are associated with the process of risk management. These include the process of the identification of the significant disaster that is identified and evaluated. The second process is measuring the effectiveness of the means to be used in controlling the situation after it happens. Internal control aspects of an internal problem is then evaluated to ensure the smooth running of the crucial things in the organization before dealing with the external issues. The risk management has an embedded system that is used to deal with all the activities of an organization ending up to be considered as a culture of the organization. The organization also forms an efficient system that is used as quick response to disasters that may evolve along the way. Finally, an organization should come with a means that can be used to deal significantly with failings in control of a disaster to the most appropriate management levels. The table below shows the summary of the probability of a disaster impact in the form of a matrix. High occurrence probability Low occurrence probability High impact likely to occur High priority: emergency plans Avoiding or reducing the disaster Serious concern: adapting the strategies that can be used in limiting the consequences that are likely to result from the occurrence of a disaster Low impact likely to occur Little concern: ignoring the disaster Some concern: limiting, reducing or defecting the disaster Table 1: Probability of a disaster impact in the form of a matrix. If the performance of an organization is high, the management of a disaster results to high performance. However, in the situations of low organizational performance, ignoring a situation leads to exposure and low performance any time things go wrong. If an organization is obsessed with the occurrence of risks, a situation where there is over the control is experienced, and the result is low levels of performance. Parties involved in The Response of Disasters and an organization’s plan for uncertainty The first line of response in case of the emergence of a disaster is the state and local governments in the country. These state and local governments are responsible for the possession of firefighting equipment, they have the police whom can be sent in case of a disaster to take the responsibility of cabbing the disaster, and they have the emergency medical services and agencies responsible for responding to disaster management (Regester et al., 2008). The state and local governments together with the responders may as well be victims themselves. The availability of emergency medical services and the equipment for fighting fire is a good preparation in the case of emergency of uncertainty. The employees should also be trained to be cautious in their activities to prevent such cases from happening. Strategic plans should be put into place to ensure there is controlled movement during the emergency of a disaster. It ensures that there is smooth and effective way dealing with the matter presented or the disaster that arises. Contingency planning is always important in the management of a disaster. The guiding principles in Emergency Planning A committee can be formed by an organization to deal with a disaster. Conflict is however not eliminated by the fact that there is acceptance of the need for emergency planning. The process of emergency planning should take into account into integrating plans for the hazard agents into the EOP of multi-hazard. Types of natural hazards should be well and clearly be identified by emergency planners. The mentioned planners should use HVA’s of the community efficiently to identify the natural hazards that include the occurrence of floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and also hurricanes (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2003). The planners should also identify the technological accidents that include the releases of toxic chemicals and the accidents of nuclear power plans. After the identification of these hazards, the disaster planners should take into consideration the similarity of demands between the different agents of hazards materials production in an organization’s disaster response. In the case of similarities in characteristics between two different hazardous wastes, the emergency response they would require is likely to be similar. Different personnel opportunities, different equipment, and procedures are used in reducing the effect of the hazardous products. The number of annexes that would be functional is reduced, therefore, simplifying the EOP. Cooperating with civil militaries. Supply chain by the military is aimed at keeping missions. They are also useful in the humanitarian aid and disaster relief. The logistics of the logistics together with their command and control systems are very crucial and important in operation undertaken in areas of disasters. The military are trained in remote areas where they are trained to work in these areas (Stirling, 2011). They provide security and protection and also mass distribution. They are trained to work under harsh conditions and can easily be involved disaster supply chains due to their knowledge of the disaster areas. For example, they were used in the fire disaster management in 2010 in Australia where the fire was much widespread. The Australian defense forces were used to air the resources responsible in the putting down the fire. The United Nations Humanitarian Civil-Military coordination is part of the office used for the coordination of humanitarian affairs. Trust can be well built in the military to enhance the good relations during their involvement in dealing with disasters. Taking care of their needs and paying them reasonably are ways of maintaining their trust. Trust can also be maintained by believing in their efforts to control the disaster (Kovacs & Spens, 2011). In the case of maintaining trust with the clients, an organization should put plans to deal with issues that may arise within the organization long before they could happen. Avoiding the disaster is the best way. However, if the case happens, it’s a good idea to make the case known to the public. It’s good to be always frank to the customers in case things go wrong about the problems surrounding your organization. Communication is always crucial. It’s good to keep intact with as many website sites as possible and especially in the social media (Kovacs & Spens, 2011). References Garnett, M., & Lynch, P. (2003). The conservatives in crisis: The Tories after 1997. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. Kovacs, G., & Spens, K. M. (2011). Relief Supply Chain Management for Disasters: Humanitarian Aid and Emergency Logistics. Hershey: IGI Global. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2003). Environmental risks and insurance: A comparative analysis of the role of insurance in the management of environment-related risks. Paris: Author. Regester, M., Larkin, J., & Regester, M. (2008). Risk issues and crisis management in public relations: A casebook of best practice. London: Kogan Page. Stirling, R. (2011). Special forces: The ultimate guide to survival: how to fight your way out of any military disaster. London, England: John Blake. Read More