Preparing For Tragedy In The Workplace

1. Preparing For Tragedy In The Workplace Presented By: Sponsored By:

2. Welcome AGRIP

3. Agenda: • Introduction • Critical incident response planning • Understanding the impact on the organization • Providing leadership • Responding to the organization • Moving forward • Policy audit • Web resources

4. SHRM Survey of Human Resource Professionals • After September 11th: • 60% said their company had not done advance planning, and were not prepared. • 49% had an Employee Assistance Program in place prior to September 11. • 8% felt they were properly prepared.

5. PriceWaterhouseCooper’s Post Sept. 11, Survey Results • Did your employer’s response influence the way you feel about your organization?

6. PriceWaterhouseCooper’s Post Sept. 11, Survey Results • As employees strove to return to normalcy, the top five things they were looking for to help them cope, refocus, and regain productivity were: • Continued communication on issues, priorities and accomplishments. • Flexibility with employees who were most traumatized. • Continued counseling. • Ensured safety of employees. • Educating managers on how to respond to employees’ concerns related to the aftermath of September 11th..

7. PriceWaterhouseCooper’s Post Sept. 11, Survey Results • Slightly more than one-quarter of employees surveyed from organizations with a presence near Ground Zero are now more willing to stay with their organization as a result of the favorable way their employers handled the September 11th tragedy.

8. PriceWaterhouseCooper’s Post Sept. 11, Survey Results • How soon after the attack did your organization initiate communication with employees and/or provide them with services?

9. PriceWaterhouseCooper’s Post Sept. 11, Survey Results • Employees who evaluated their organizations’ response as fair or poor cited: • Too much focus on business as usual. • Not providing an outlet for emotions (e.g. counseling). • Insufficient communications.

10. PriceWaterhouseCooper’sPost Sept. 11, Survey Results • Although there was overwhelming approval for how employers handled the tragedy, 50% of therespondents identified ways their organizations could have improved their response. Of these, respondents wanted: • Better disaster planning and quicker responses - 31% • Better communication - 19%

11. Critical Incident Response Planning

12. Key Components of the Planning Process • Develop the Plan • Identify providers of services • Create a manual • Conduct training • Test the Plan • Communicate • Evaluate readiness

13. Key Components Of The Plan • Develop a Critical Incident (C. I.) Response Planin advance: • Designate your crisis management team and decision-makers. • Ensure seamless interface with federal, state and local governmental agencies. • Protect company personnel, physical assets and business equities.

14. Key Components Of The Plan • Identify a C. I. Response Provider. • Provider should: • Offer stress/trauma debriefing services. • Assist with development of C. I. Response Plan. • Have the capability of providing an immediate on-site C. I. Response Team. • Be capable of providing long-term counseling. • If provider is not the organization’s EAP, it must collaborate with EAP provider and internal responders.

15. Key Components Of The Plan • Prepare a C. I. Response Manual. • Manual should: • Outline the Plan step-by-step • Detail roles of employees. • Detail accountabilities of internal and external responders including: • Time frames for action. • On-going follow-up. • Monitoring.

16. Key Components Of The Plan • Conduct pre-incident training. • Training should: • Acquaint staff with the overall C. I. Response Plan. • Communicate specific roles of key individuals (internal responders/supporters) and external providers. • Familiarize staff with the types of potential emotional impact that may follow a C. I. • Provide specific training to key individuals.

17. Key Components Of The Plan • Role play. • Conduct periodic “fire drills.” • Evaluate effectiveness of C. I. Response Plan. • Adjust accordingly.

18. Key Components Of The Plan • Develop contingency communication plan. • Designate communications coordinator. • Steady communication reduces rumors. • Employees look to their immediate supervisor: • Ensure they understand the C.I. Response Plan. • Provide FAQs and answers for supervisors. • Ensure important contact numbers are accessible.

19. Validating The Plan • Planning: • Do we have a written emergency plan? • Does it include detailed instructions of what is to occur in an emergency? • Are employees designated to act in the event of an emergency?

20. Validating The Plan • Planning (continued): • Have we sought advice from our insurance carrier, an industry organization, or a government emergency planning office concerning our emergency plans? • Have we posted the 911 emergency number?

21. Validating The Plan • Training : • Do we train supervisors in how to handle emergencies? • Do we have refresher courses on this training? • Do we review our training on an annual basis? • Do we train employees in how to handle emergencies?

22. Validating The Plan • Training (continued): • Do we conduct emergency drills? • Do we provide first-aid training for our employees?

23. Validating The Plan • Contact: • Have we identified a person who is able to communicate information to: • Other facilities that might face the same emergency? • Employees who may be arriving at work soon? • Others who may be in danger? • Our home office? • Relatives of employees? • Relatives of any customers involved?

24. Validating The Plan • Contact (continued): • Have we identified a person who is able to communicate information to: • The media? • Shareholders?

25. Validating The Plan • Emergency Preparedness: • Does the employee alarm system provide ample warning or reaction time? • Can the employee alarm be easily perceived above ambient noise or light levels? • Is the employee alarm distinctive and immediately recognizable? • Have employees been told how to report emergencies?

26. Validating The Plan • Emergency Preparedness (continued): • Are emergency telephone numbers posted near telephones, employee bulletin boards, and other conspicuous locations? • Are all employee alarm systems maintained in operating condition? • Do we have the appropriate fire extinguishers, and are the inspections current?

27. Validating The Plan • Emergency Preparedness (continued): • Have we made every legal effort to determine which employees have a disability? • Do we have an evacuation plan specific to the needs of employees with disabilities?

28. Validating The Plan • Communications: • Do we have an effective way of communicating during a critical incident? • Have we communicated the plan to all employees? • Have we assured employees in advance that we are prepared for a critical incident?

29. The Plan • A well understood and validated Critical Incident Response Plan underpins and incorporates the mental health response by: • Ensuring a robust, timely and effective response to a traumatic event through- • Timely identification of issues and needs which arise.

30. The Plan And by: • Providing a well coordinated and effective delivery of services ( medical, psychological) to employees- • EAP • Debriefing

31. How will you reach all of your employees? How will you communicate to employees what they need to be doing to ensure their safety? Who will be the primary communicator? Who will continue to sustain frequent communications? How will employees ascertain if the organization is open for business and where and when they should report to work? Do you have counseling through EAP? Will you be providing counseling on-site for employees? Are your managers trained to deal with distraught employees? What will you do for employees who can not travel home, either within the city or from other destinations? Do you have a plan to deal with displaced employees? Can your employees work remotely? Does your infrastructure support a large number of employees working remotely? Are you prepared to evacuate employees with disabilities? Do all employees have life/accident insurance? Do you provide employees guidance on essential/non-essential travel as well as alternatives to travel? Evaluation of Readiness

32. REMEMBER:

33. Understanding the Impact on the Organization

34. Rating The Impact • 1. How serious was the incident for your company? Minor Major • 0 ............... 2 ............... 4 ............... 6 ............... 8 ............... 10

35. Rating The Impact • 2. How extensive were fatalities, permanent injuries or other catastrophic losses to employees or their families? Minimal Extreme • 0 ............... 3 ............... 6 ............... 9 ............... 12 ............... 15

36. Rating The Impact • 3. How serious were the consequences of the incident to the company and people close to the company? Minor Major • 0 ............... 2 ............... 4 ............... 6 ............... 8 ............... 10

37. Rating The Impact • 4. How conscious and aware were employees of an immediate threat to themselves and each other from what was happening during the incident? Unaware Very Aware • 0 ............... 1 ............... 1 ............... 3 ............... 4 ............... 5

38. Rating The Impact • 5. How much fear, terror or horror did employees experience as a result of the incident? Least Most • 0 ............... 2 ............... 4 ............... 6 ............... 8 ............... 10

39. Rating The Impact • 6. What is the impact on the company of the challenges posed by the incident? Least Most • 0 ............... 2 ............... 4 ............... 6 ............... 8 ............... 10

40. Rating The Impact • 7. To what degree do you feel that actions, misjudgments, negligence, carelessness or even deliberate recklessness by someone outside the company caused or contributed to the incident? Least Most • 0 ............... 2 ............... 4 ............... 6 ............... 8 ............... 10

41. Rating The Impact • 8. To what degree do you feel that actions, misjudgments, negligence, carelessness or even deliberate recklessness by the company or someone in the company contributed to the effects of the incident? Least Most • 0 ............... 2 ............... 4 ............... 6 ............... 8 ............... 10

42. Rating The Impact • 9. How serious have any other previous incidents or other major losses in the company in recent years been? Least Most • 0 ............... 2 ............... 4 ............... 6 ............... 8 ............... 10

43. Rating The Impact • 10. Rate the other current stresses in the company. Least Most • 0 ............... 2 ............... 4 ............... 6 ............... 8 ............... 10

44. Rating The Impact • Your Score: • 80-100 Devastating • 60-79 Powerful • 40-59 Significant • 20-39 Moderate • 0-19 Minimal

45. Understanding the Impact on the Organization • Three stages of reaction to catastrophic events: • Shock -- numbness. • Grasping reality -- gathering facts. • Coping -- moving ahead in changed circumstances.

46. Providing Leadership

47. Providing Leadership “Managers do things right; leaders do the right thing.”

48. Providing Leadership • Leadership is the team of the CEO and the senior executives as a united front. • “The higher the Incident Impact Score, the more important it is that “the CEO be highly visible as the point person.” Wall Street Journal

49. Providing Leadership • Leader’s role is radically expanded. "Nothing that I am doing is the same as before. There are no answers for this in the C.E.O. manual.” Kim S. Fennebresque CEO SG Cowen Securities

50. Providing Leadership • TAKE CHARGE: • T - Target fears and anxiety. • A - Accept the fact that performance will drop. • K - Keep communication open. • E - Educate managers.