A global study by Chemtrec, an emergency dangerous goods response service provider, reportedly shows that almost a third of businesses (28%) under-prioritize their chemical emergency response and crisis management, with 63% being coordinated by management or department teams rather than at a c-suite level (19%) and less than 3% of organizations employing a full-time crisis management professional. In ranking their organizations’ preparedness for a crisis out of 10, where 10 is the most prepared, 17% gave their companies a score of five or lower.
Amidst a series of environmental crises such as the recent oil spill in California and the hacking of Colonial Pipeline Co’s systems, which resulted in a pipeline shutdown and subsequent gas shortages across several states, emergency preparedness and crisis management is coming under greater scrutiny, more so as the world delegations met at the UN’s COP26 conference, according to Chemtrec. The company surveyed crisis leaders across their customer base, including chemical producers, logistics partners and end users, to determine the level of crisis readiness globally.
The company says it particularly wanted to identify the level of coordination between business continuity and crisis management systems. The two systems should be fully integrated, according to Chemtrec – while one part of the organization deals with the crisis event, the other needs to consider the impact on the organization’s core services and implement workarounds to ensure the organization can continue to deliver its key services to stakeholders. Despite this, only 11% of respondents feel the two systems are integrated, with 33% saying they’re not clear how the two systems operate and respond in a unified manner during a crisis.
Chemtrec also sought to discover to what extent global businesses conducted regular crisis simulation exercises to test whether policies and plans are fit for purpose. Good practice recommends that simulation exercises occur at least annually, according to the company; however, 19% of respondents state exercises occur only every two or more years at best, and 18% of businesses admitted to not stress testing plans at all. Thirty-one percent say they don’t regularly take part in crisis management and response training programs, and four in 10 respondents say they do not understand their crisis management and emergency response roles and responsibilities.
For more information, visit: www.chemtrec.com
