Tragic and disruptive crisis events, such as violent attacks on the public and employees, while rare, can have far-reaching consequences. These events can impact not only those individuals directly involved, but also the wider communities and the infrastructure and businesses they rely on.
How your organisation responds to a crisis, whether it's a workplace accident, an act of violence or a catastrophic event, can significantly influence your ability to keep people safe, as well as longer-term public perceptions of your organisation.
To help you prepare, respond and recover from crises, we share a range of best practice crisis management steps for your business, both before, during and after a crisis event. We also examine the role of your insurance coverages in response and recovery.
A common challenge for leadership during a crisis is the decision to activate the response or to wait pending further information. Having a well-structured incident response and recovery process with clear criteria for activation, or ‘triggers’, as well as escalation and tiered response levels, will clarify this decision-making process.
The emergency services, for example, use the acronym METHANE (Major incident, Exact location, Type of incident, Hazards, Access, Number of casualties, Emergency) to frame their initial assessments, but you can create your own approach to understanding the scale, duration and impact of an event.
Another helpful tip is to scale up the response early. It’s far easier to step back, rather than play catch-up during an incident.
How you communicate, both internally and externally, can either build trust or compound a crisis, so consider following basic steps:
When a crisis occurs, immediately prioritising the wellbeing of those affected is a legal requirement, as well as a moral obligation.
To put people first when immediately responding to a crisis, your organisation can take the following steps:
Reputational harm can be as damaging as financial loss, with the public, customers and your partners potentially judging the response to a crisis.
Engaging crisis communication experts can be crucial to more effective response and recovery efforts. News cycles move quickly, so every minute counts in shaping the narrative proactively and with accurate information.
Planning for long-term brand recovery, including promotional and advertising efforts to rebuild trust, and considering insurance solutions that cover crisis consultancy, PR costs and profit protection in the event of reputational harm, can also prove essential.
During and following a disruptive crisis event, your business might face:
Insurance policies with property damage/business interruption cover may provide for business disruption from several crisis-related scenarios. Denial of access (non-damage) or civil/military authorities covers business interruption when premises or the surrounding area, typically within 1-5 miles, are closed, sealed off, or unlawfully occupied, or if a harmful device is suspected, usually for 1-12 months with a 4-12 hour waiting period.
Loss of attraction covers reduced customer visits due to crime, fear, or damage in the vicinity, with similar distance and time parameters.
Administrative shutdown applies when serious crimes, contamination, or sanitation issues at your premises lead to enforced restrictions or closure by authorities.
Your coverage may also extend to interruptions caused by damage at suppliers’ or customers’ premises, or at other group company sites within territorial limits.
Cover for additional increases in the cost of working can reimburse necessary extra expenses to minimise business disruption, while public relations expenses cover the cost of engaging PR professionals to manage communications and reputation after an incident.
All the above will be subject to individual policy terms, conditions and limits, so you should contact your insurance adviser to establish the cover provided by your current insurance policies.
In the aftermath of a crisis, you’ll want to carry out a thorough investigation to understand what happened, fulfil your regulatory obligations and defend against potential claims.
Vital to investigations is your ability to maintain detailed record of all actions, decisions and communications during the crisis. This involves documenting witness accounts and evidencing your review of safety protocols, to not only mitigate future risks but also demonstrate your business took all reasonable steps to protect people.
Directors and officers in particular may face claims for alleged failures in duty of care, health and safety or crisis response.
Directors’ and officers’ insurance can cover defence costs, investigations and certain damages, but policies vary, so review your coverage and ensure you notify your broker or insurer of potential claims as soon as you’re able.
Disruptive crises can have a profound psychological impact on employees that may not be limited to those directly involved; your entire workforce can be affected. Individuals caught up in such traumatic events may experience a range of immediate and long-term challenges, including trauma, physical harm, acute fear and confusion, as well as potential long-term mental health issues like PTSD, depression, anxiety and survivor's guilt.
Crisis events can trigger heightened anxiety, fear of travel, or the resurfacing of past traumas. The perceived threat alone can influence behaviour and overall wellbeing, meaning it’s crucial your organisation acknowledges the broader impacts on your workforce should a crisis happen.
To effectively support your employees through such challenging times, preparedness planning is essential. Your business should be ready to implement robust support mechanisms for all affected employees, whether directly or indirectly involved. Key components of this support include access to crisis counselling and trauma-informed care, as well as mental health resources tailored to the needs of those affected.
You should also be prepared to demonstrate empathy for impacted employees through flexible work arrangements, such as remote working or alternative locations, where appropriate, to help employees recover and feel safe.
The journey doesn't end when the immediate crisis is over. To recover and learn from an incident effectively, consider the following steps:
For any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our specialist advisers.
