When the unexpected happens to a business, delayed action – or the wrong action – can cause as much harm as the initial incident itself. That’s the message of John Bresland, former board member and chairman of the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board , who will be a keynote presenter at the 2016 World Conference on Disaster Management, to be held June 7th-8th at The International Centre in Toronto.
“The last thing you want to do is be taken by surprise,” says Bresland, who now consults large organizations on chemical process safety. “There are practical steps every business should take to effectively learn, communicate and plan for future disasters to which the organization may be vulnerable.”
Bresland cites the following as the five top mistakes businesses make when preparing to respond to, mitigate and move forward from disaster:
Failing to define worst-case scenarios
What might be considered a relatively small incident can quickly become a very expensive one if a company fails to look beyond the immediate safety issues and consider business impacts. For example, even a small event like a fire can lead to significant loss of production and profits long after the fire is extinguished. “Ask yourself what’s the worst possible scenario and prepare for that,” advises Bresland.
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