Pigs and Crisis Management II

As reported by Department of Health and Aging on 4th June 2009, the total number of confirmed H1N1 09 (Human Swine Flu) cases in Australia has now increased to 633. The state of Victoria has over three-quarters of these confirmed cases and have subsequently raised its pandemic alert level from “contain” to a “modified sustain” phase.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon is reported in the media to have stated that “Victoria is moving to a new level of risk”. Technically, this upgraded alert would enable government bans on public gatherings; such as sports events, entertainment venues, and community programs. However, the good news for the Venues and Events Industry is that the minister is also reported to have stated that the “modified sustain phase will not yet impact on public events and gatherings” She defended the decision not to cancel events, including the recent State of Origin game, confirming that she been advised that mass outdoor public events did not pose any particular risk.

Instead of the ban of events and public gatherings, Victorian authorities identified methods to manage risks appropriately. They have demonstrated this by targeting those people at highest risk such as children and elderly. Media have reported that hundreds of children and teachers who attended the recent State of Origin game in Victoria have been requested to stay home in quarantine for a week. Similar restrictions have already been in place for students and teachers returning from South America, North America and Japan.

To the delight of fans, the State of Origin game continued with appropriate controls which identified high risk patrons. This serves as a timely reminder that the events and venues industry is looking into the face of a crisis situation of a pending pandemic, however until then there are operational controls including provision of information, isolation of high risk groups and appropriately resourced medical response teams.

More information can be found at the following linked sites:

Work Cover link:
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/OHS/WorkCoversRoleinOHS/OHSResponsibilities/Pages/influenza_pandemic.aspx

Office of Industrial Relations link:
http://www.industrialrelations.nsw.gov.au/Employers/Employer_responsibilities/Swine_flu_be_ready_to_deal_with_workplace_impacts.html

Department of Health link:
http://www.health.wa.gov.au/swine_flu/home/

Pandemic in Public Venues and Events

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) have reported that four more people who arrived on a Qantas flight from LA to Sydney have tested positive for Human Swine Flu (known as Influenza A H1N1). Australia now has a confirmed record of 50 cases of Human Swine Flu, with the figures doubling in the past week.
This total includes the positive test results of two children on board the Pacific Dawn cruise ship that has just arrived in Sydney. It is reported that during this outbreak: 130 other passengers were quarantined; the remaining 1800 disembarking passengers were asked to stay at home or in their hotels for up to seven days; and the ship eventually set sail 7 hours late with a whole new crew.The likelihood of an infectious disease shutting down your business may seem improbable. However, as seen in the recent reports there is the strong potential for businesses to have serious OHS and business continuity implications from such outbreaks.

During the initial Human Swine Flu out-break in Mexico, the Mexican government banned public events, issued advisories against gatherings across the country and closed schools nationwide. This move would have left the Venue Managers scrambling to reschedule and reorganize their events.

If Australia were to experience a Human Swine Flu Pandemic this could trigger the same cancellation of major public events and major public gatherings. The possibility of such measures was foreshadowed in last Saturday’s SMH.

Risks to the events and venues industries from pandemics, other natural disasters or medical incidents should all be included in the organization’s emergency management, crisis management and business continuity plans. An established and well communicated plan will prepare a venue to minimize disruption and resume business as early as possible.

Stay tuned for more risk management news.

NRL Sexual Misconduct Claims – Another example of Reputation Risk in Sport

More allegations of serious sexual misconduct have once again the potential to seriously damage the NRL’s reputation. In a difficult economic environment, allegations of group sex and sexual assault, as made in last night’s ABC TV program, Four Corners, may have serious implications for the game’s brand and de-tract from the value proposition offered to sponsors of the sport. Managing such crisis and events that seriously threaten one’s reputation is always difficult. Reputation is usually gained over time but can be dashed very quickly. Great care will now be needed to minimize the consequential loss resulting from the crisis. Reputational risk management is an area growing in significance in the sport, venues and events industries. When crisis management is poorly executed it can cripple an organization and its goodwill. An organisation’s reputation is arguably its most valuable asset and needs careful nurturing and effective risk management.

Brand, Reputation and Relationship Risk

Ask any CEO of a major venue, event or sport; their organisation’s reputation, its brands and its relationships are some of their most important assets. A loss of these can spell disaster for the business, particularly in a world of shrinking revenue’s, participation rates and market share. So what are these issues and why are they important?A brand is a collection of associations connected with a service, entity or person. The brand is sometimes described by marketers as the personality traits behind a product or service. If we were talking about the personalities of a brand these traits might include:

• Their name, look, hairstyle and clothes, (i.e. a venue’s name, logo and building presentation); and
• Their behaviours like a sense of humour and simple approach, (i.e. a sport that is fun and simple to use)

A reputation is based upon people’s experience in using the brand. (i.e. whether the sport or venue is safe to use).

Our relationships are critical; with our customers who buy tickets, with our suppliers who are reliable, with the media who support us, and our industry who respects us.

Anything that threatens our brand, reputation or relationships is a risk to the business and should be taken seriously. A risk-based approach to image and reputational risk to manage these threats is important to identify and prioritise these threats and direct resources toward limiting the chance of the threat or its impact. This requires the risk management discipline to be applied to marketing and overseen by the organisation’s Executive to understand the risks, and use tools like Enterprise-wide risk management and crisis management planning to help.

Reputational Risk – Important Considerations Linked to Safety

For many safety professionals, safety risk is defined as the level of injury or fatality resulting from a hazardous occurrence. Yet if you asked the public to define safety risk, they may see things quite differently. The safety professionals definition fails to take into account all the factors that invoke an emotional response such as fear, fright or anger which collectively make up factors contributing to a more significant reputational risk through ‘public outrage.’ In a reputational sense some practitioners argue that the following definition exists:

Risk = Hazard + Outrage

The irony is that most safety professionals pay little attention to the outrage when considering risk, and the public often pays less attention to the actual hazard. Bird flu was such an example where the fear created amongst the community, far outweighed the reality of hazard.

Experts in risk perception have identified the following variables as some of the contributing factors to this outrage phenomena:

• Control - The level of control one has over the hazard – e.g. driving the car feels far safer rather than being a passenger
• Fairness - Where there is a perceived level of unfairness in the treatment of one group over another
• Morality – Where there are some risks which are not only unacceptable but perceived as evil – e.g. child molestation
• Trust – Where we feel more empowered and believe as true information about a hazard when it comes from a reputable source

Concerns for these factors are important when making decisions regarding safety hazards and the choices available between alternatives in risk management.

Considerations such as these should be at the forefront of all managers and Executives in high profile public and private organisations, major event organisers and large venue operators in the way they communicate risk with their external stakeholder. Failure to do so can be exceptionally damaging to the brand and the bottom line.

~ Wayne Middleton - Reliance Risk, the Risk management specialists

OHS Harmonisation – National Approach to Safety

In conjunction with Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Reliance Risk is hosting a free after hours seminar in Sydney on the upcoming changes to the OHS legislation in NSW. The changes, due in 2011, will see a national ‘harmonisation’ process across all states to fall under the one regime. Of particular interest to venue managers and event organisers is the increased onus on managing safety risk for all people under their control (including the public) and an emphasis toward Enterprise-wide programs to help manage safety.This seminar will be held on the 24th of March at, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Level 32, Gover Philip Tower.

If you’d like to attend please RSVP to Renae Lewis, on 02 9210 6896 or renae.lewis@corrs.com.au.

For event risk management consultation, contact Reliance Risk.

Terrorist Attack on Sri Lanken Cricketers – A reminder of the risks

Yesterday’s terrorist attack in Pakistan serves as a stark reminder of the inherent terrorist threat that exists for high profile major sporting events. A total of seven players and coach were hurt in a gun and grenade ambush in the Pakistan city of Lahore which left at least eight other people dead.

Since the 1972 Munich Olympics where 11 Israeli athletes and officials were murdered in a terrorist attack, major sporting events have represented a high profile target for terrorism. This was reinforced again with the 1996 Atlanta City bombing and more recently in Australia with the alleged 2005 plot by home grown groups to attack the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the AFL Grand Final.

Security risk management and for larger major events, anti-terrorism planning, continues to be an important part of any major event’s risk management planning.