How To Conduct A Terrorism Risk Assessment

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How To Conduct A Terrorism Risk Assessment
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How To Conduct A Terrorism Risk Assessment

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When tragedy strikes, what do you do? Dealing with the aftermath of terrorist incidents.

 

If you’ve survived a violent incident, you’ll never forget it. If you’ve never experienced one, you’ll never be able to imagine it.

 

Terror incidents and violent outbursts are all too common across Australia. From the 2014 Lindt hostage crisis to the 2017 Melbourne SUV attack - terrorism comes in many forms.

 

We’re not trying to scare you, we’re trying to prepare you.

 

When violence strikes, you need to be able to respond quickly and effectively not just from a safety standpoint but from an operational one as well. While this whitepaper can’t predict the specific needs of your business, nor can it prescribe tailored action items to your incident - we can outline a post-incident to-do list, below we’ll aim to do just that.

 

What happens first?: The peak of danger

 

The bomb goes off, the shooter fires their last shot, the fire dies down. The incident has ended, but the recovery process has just begun. Your first step needs to be identifying the relevant directions from first responders and police presence.

 

Different scenarios will call for different responses following these initial orders.

 

In some cases, staying put is your best plan of action. In others, you’ll need to evacuate as quickly as possible. The key here is turning to the officials in charge. When that fails, use your brain. If a fire has broken out, evacuate. If a shooter is at large and nearby, place as much distance between yourself and the shooter - once safe stay put, take cover and barricade your location as best possible.

 

Wait for instructions and proceed with caution. Do not, under any circumstances, re-enter an area after evacuation or advise staff to leave any place of safe refuge until directed to do so by emergency services.

 

Short term actions: After the debris settles

 

Post-incident procedures are very complex, as each business and each incident requires a differing reaction.

 

All of the steps relevant to your company should be contained within the organisation’s business continuity or mass casualty plan. Having these plans in place is critical to the effectiveness of your post-incident response - if you don’t have one in place, the team at Barringtons can help you formulate one.

 

Once you’ve been given the all-clear by emergency services, there are a few clear immediate actions to take, listed below:

 

  • Attend to the injured and ensure that all persons are accounted for.
  • Inspect all areas for dead or wounded.
  • Try to preserve the scene as much as possible - do not disturb any evidence.
  • Designate a trusted media/communications officer.
  • Notify next of kin or relatives of the injured as to their current location.
  • Call in counsellors with expertise in mass casualty situations.
  • Preserve any electronic evidence such as CCTV, threats received by email or social media.
  • Make witnesses/staff who are not injured available for interview by emergency services.

 

As a part of the business contingency plan, you should have a robust “Return to Work” programme. This includes having someone on call that is skilled in designing and implementing return to work plans for affected individuals who require time off.

 

This level of staff support is critical in the aftermath of a tragic event as the emotional tolls are considerable. As your team recovers you should also be ready to recruit or contract staff on short notice - another detail which should be included in your continuity plan.

 

It’s worth noting that the post-incident processes can carry on for several years before coming to any sort of finalisation. This involves things like waiting on a coroner to make an official ruling on the incident and resulting deaths. During this same period there will need to be constant liaison with officers working within the coronial system.

 

Factoring in media response

 

When terror events occur, media coverage is a given. For starters, you will want to have a PR person on board who is skilled in handling these types of situations, and is comfortable dealing with a high volume of requests.

 

Immediately following the event you should enforce a complete embargo on all staff members, ensuring no one makes any unapproved public comments, including posting on social media.

 

The social media aspect is critical, as posts on these platforms are reviewed following an incident and comments can be used in subsequent legal proceedings. This ultimately has an impact on the appropriation of guilt towards an individual or organisation.

 

Once again, your business continuity plan should have provisions for media response. The key thing to remember is to keep your communication surrounding the event unified and consistent as the sensationalist nature of media organisations means that they will be looking for flaws in an organisations defences.

 

Rebuilding public confidence

 

One of the most effective ways to rebuild public confidence stems from your business continuity plan. We’ve referenced these documents a lot in this whitepaper for good reason - they help ensure you’re prepared for violent incidents and their aftermath.

 

Being able to point to ways your organisation planned for and tried to prevent against these types of situations is extremely reassuring to the general public. Instead of saying ‘we didn’t think this would happen to us,” you’ll be able to confidently say “we had taken every precaution to prevent this type of scenario.”

 

Renewing public confidence will also depend on your organisation's ability to continue business as usual following the event. The quicker you get back on your feet (within reason), the better. Providing your customers with a sense of normality following the event makes a serious difference.

 

An effective and consistent media campaign will also play a role in your business bouncing back. When audiences are consistently assured that your organisation is safe and back to normal, they’ll slowly begin to believe it.

 

Acknowledging the event in years to come

 

When a terrorist event happens, you need to acknowledge the anniversary tastefully. People want to honor the memories of the deceased and call attention to these incidents in order to prevent others from happening.

 

Building a memorial plaque, creating a workplace award in the name of victims or making a yearly donation to relevant foundations are all respectful ways to honor the memory of your tragedy.

 

It’s also wise to include first responders in any memorial services. This not only acknowledges the critical role they played in the event but allows the grieving family members and victims to focus some energy into the positive outcomes of the incident.

 

How can Barringtons help you prepare for the worst case scenario?

 

The best offense is a strong defence. While you can’t stop terrorist events from happening, you can ensure you’re prepared to face them in the best way possible. This all boils down to two things: Training and planning.

 

Luckily, Barringtons can help you with both. We can train your staff in terrorism awareness, ensure they have a firm grip on emergency evacuation protocols and help build support systems for them following a violent incident.

 

On a wider scale, we can help leaders build the robust business continuity plans needed to effectively deal with these scenarios. This includes:

 

  • Conducting workplace inspections and gap analysis: Our team will work with you to identify holes in emergency management, evacuation procedures, workplace safety, and terrorism vulnerability. Once located, we will help fill the gaps.
  • Creating robust business continuity plans: Barringtons has years of experience creating detailed contingency plans to help ensure your business is prepared for all scenarios. We can sit down with your team and create a robust plan of action for any type of violent incident.
  • Training for and testing on business continuity plans: Once these continuity plans have been created we can work with your team to trial the protocols to ensure they are effective in a test scenario. This helps identify any potential errors ahead of time and amend accordingly.
  • Supporting liaisons between you and law enforcement: Investigations and coronial processes can carry on for months following the event. We can help support you in liaising with police officials throughout the duration of the post-incident processes.
  • Designing return to work programmes for staff: Having plans in place to support your staff in the midst of this emotional trauma is critical. Our team at Barringtons can help you build a detailed return to work programmes, including provisions for recruitment efforts and contracted work following the event as your staff recovers.

 

We need to be prepared for the realities of terrorist incidents. As leaders, our biggest responsibilities are ensuring our staff are trained, that our resources are there to support them and that we have a plan in place for every scenario.

 

To learn more about how to do just that with the help of the Barringtons team, reach out to us today.

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