Planning for the unthinkable
Published: 04 December, 2008
With the ever-present threat of terrorist action, of which we have seen examples only too recently, planning for the unexpected forms part of the essential management of any large site or building, in particular where considerable numbers of people may be gathered.
If we can be certain of one thing it is that other disasters are waiting to happen. The questions are what, where and when?
Those entrusted with the vital roles of major incident management and emergency response must constantly plan to mitigate, as best they can, the potential for loss of life and damage to property, which inevitably follows a major incident, and be ready to restore normality as soon as practically possible.
There is no place today for the fatalism we saw in earlier times when the view prevailed that little could be done, either before or afterwards, to prevent or alleviate a major incident.
And major incidents do not come much larger than the September 11 atrocity in New York, but the speed and efficiency displayed by the emergency services to firstly save lives and subsequently clear the site could not have been achieved without a plan that had been verified and exercised well in advance.
Furthermore, the speed with which the financial services sector opened for business after the Docklands bombing in London was the result of careful planning for such an emergency. Both of these events remind us that we all have to be prepared for such incidents, particularly businesses for which major interruption could be fatal.
Ominously, and portentiously, the Home Office warns that over 50 per cent of businesses that experience a major incident without a suitable plan will fail within a mere 12 months of the occurrence.
But it's not just high-profile buildings in Central London that could be vulnerable, as demonstrated by last year's attack on Glasgow Airport. Shopping centres are soft targets, and they must also be prepared for other major incidents, not just terrorism.
What could be considered a 'major incident'? In essence, any emergency that requires the implementation of special arrangements. In other words, more than normal day-to-day resources by one or more of the 999 emergency services. So it's not just terrorist activity that falls into this category. Imagine perhaps a traffic accident outside a shopping centre entrance involving a chemical tanker, or a helicopter crashing into a crowded city centre.
It is no longer just the emergency services that must prepare for such incidents. The private sector, in the form of property owners and managers, also has a huge responsibility to the public, a building's occupiers, its staff and its shareholders to be prepared at all times. All organisations should consider themselves vulnerable to a potential incident, and ignore the consequences at their peril.
Our plans have been developed and reviewed over a number of years by our own in-house team of specialists, each of whom has a fire service background and direct experience of dealing with a major incident.
Each plan is designed to enable the management staff and tenants to apply an effective, systematic and practised response to a major incident at their centre, and in doing so reduce and minimise injury and loss of life to staff, occupiers and the public, along with damage to the property and economic loss. By managing such risks we aim to minimise business disruption, protect the reputation of NB Real Estate and our clients, and help ensure a swift return to normality.
Once the plans are verified, training is provided for all shopping centre management staff to ensure they are conversant with their roles within the major incident management structure and understand how they will integrate with the emergency services should a real live incident occur.
This takes the form of training staff to undertake the responsibilities of 'Gold', 'Silver' and 'Bronze' roles, which mirror the levels of command used by the emergency services and are essential building blocks in any good major incident plan.
Gold-level training for shopping centre managers consists of a two-day course, with training in managing the early stages of any incident at a strategic level. It is in these vital early minutes of an incident that local strategic control is essential and can make the difference between a successful outcome and absolute disaster.
The Gold commander is supported by site staff trained to Silver (tactical) and Bronze (operational) levels. The Silver level is likely to be a deputy or duty manager and the Bronze level would typically be the customer service staff. All training for site-based shopping centre management staff is carried out at their own shopping centre and is very specifically targeted.
This level of training is also advantageous to the emergency services, who, once established at an incident, can deploy trained site staff to assist with the ongoing management, safe in the knowledge that they are adequately prepared.
Having a plan is one thing, knowing it will work in the event of an incident is another. People react in different ways and while they may not panic they could be confused. The exercises we carried out proved worthwhile, and not only confirmed the effectiveness of the plan but also highlighted some areas for improvement.
It is always essential to practise and rehearse drills and procedures; because you really don't want to have to take time to think in a disaster.
l Chris Borton is director of retail management at commercial property agency NB Real Estate,
