Crisis Planning: A Government Mandate?

I said it in my last blog, and I say it again, how does a company that drills for oil, such as BP, not have a crisis plan? And why would our government permit oil, chemical, mining or other similar companies to operate without one? At a minimum, government regulations should require such a plan before permitting operations in this country.

BP CEO Tony Hayward, in an interview in the Financial Times, noted: “What is undoubtedly true is that we did not have the tools you would want in your tool kit” – a blatant admission that BP lacked the plan and the wherewithal to act when the crisis occurred. At least he told the truth, in contrast to BP’s playing down the size of the spill and the environmental damage that occurred.

What should be in a crisis plan? First and foremost, a range of scenarios that could occur and how to respond to each of them; and the response must be put to paper in detail—step by step—so that there is no hesitation to act and act quickly. This forces a company to gather, in advance, the tools needed to clean up any mess created. Further, each scenario must be acted out and people must be trained to solve the problem. All the relevant people and their contact information at any time of day must also be included in the written plan, which is circulated to all concerned.

To keep a crisis plan up to date, companies should have periodic meetings to examine where they are vulnerable, and whether they are equipped to deal with changes as they occur. Scenarios should be ranked in terms of their probability and importance.

It is possible that if the right precautions had been taken, BP’s CEO wouldn’t have had to worry about apologizing to the families of the 11 men who died on the rig for having callously said in another context, “You know, I’d like my life back (from all the hassle).”

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