Crisis Management 101: A Case Study

My introduction to crisis management came the old-fashioned way—without any plan or preparation.

In the early afternoon of Sunday, January 4, 1987, I received a call from a friend whose hobby was monitoring police and fire radio broadcasts. “Have you heard about the train accident?” he asked.  Thus began my baptism-by-fire entry into the world of crisis management.

At that time, I was a railroad claim agent working on the Baltimore Division of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. On that day twenty-one years ago, Amtrak Train No. 173 (“The Colonial”) was speeding north, having left Washington, D.C. and Baltimore with over 600 passengers. The train was proceeding toward Philadelphia, New York, New Haven and Boston.  At the same time, a Conrail engineer was operating equipment on a parallel converging track. The Conrail equipment crossed into the path of the Amtrak train, in violation of operating rules and visual and audible warning/stop signals, and caused a collision.

It was a bleak day for Amtrak, resulting in sixteen fatalities and hundreds of injuries. Because the accident occurred at the approach to the Gunpowder River Railroad Bridge, there was only one way in and one way out for emergency response vehicles. A crisis quickly escalated into a calamity. And the pain, suffering and heartbreak to the families of the deceased and injured passengers was magnified immeasurably.

The newspaper, radio and TV reporters were not restricted in any fashion. Free access to the accident scene, the injured victims, witnesses and rescue personnel invited a field day of negative—and, in many instances, factually inaccurate—reporting. What was missing that day was a crisis management plan—the absence of which contributed to the catastrophic atmosphere that proceeded.

Throughout the intervening years, I came to learn that crises are not uncommon.  In New York in 2008 alone, we in the construction industry have endured multimillion-dollar accidents involving fire, crane collapses, scaffold failures and unsecured workers falling from heights. For 2008 year-to-date, there have been fourteen construction related fatalities in just New York City. While a crisis management plan may not prevent the potential disaster from occurring, it will certainly go a long way in the controlled management of the situation and the mitigation of the ultimate loss.

The crisis management plan should be constructed in the form of a guide, a pre-planned, step-by-step outline of the roles and responsibilities for selected company responders and spokespersons. These responders make up the “team.”  Those selected/designated must understand, appreciate and accept the significance of their roles and responsibilities on the team.

Many tasks require a teamwork concept. A variety of people with experience in various disciplines will contribute to a well-organized and managed response. The team should be a permanent unit that can immediately draw on internal and external resources. Team members must be able to work quickly and effectively with one another. On a construction site, several key personnel should be included—the site safety engineer and superintendent are two examples.

An onsite EMT presence should also be included. Consider including a trade representative as well. Including labor input to the planning process and crisis management response will reinforce the commitment to the safety and well-being of the work force. 

There should also be a designated spokesperson. It is critical to communicate accurate and neutral information.  The anticipated aggressive media presence will challenge the controlled flow of information.  The plan should include a chain of command, and designate one person to make telephone contact with corporate representatives, sponsors, owners, insurance brokers, the insurance carrier and any hired professional responders.

A secondary benefit of a crisis management plan is that it contributes to the awareness of a safe work environment and will likely reduce the risk of jobsite accidents. Most importantly, the plan will instruct the key personnel how to respond to an incident in a systematic, coordinated fashion. By empowering individuals onsite to be aware, trained and prepared for crisis management, actual jobsite dangers can be identified, corrected and, ideally, avoided.

Equally important to preparation is practice. As in the military, where teams are created and damage control drills are run to prepare soldiers and sailors to respond to fires, explosions and spills, the crisis management team should hold practice responses to potential jobsite incidents. The key to effective crisis management is anticipation.

When a crisis occurs and the construction site has turned into “one big bubbling stew pot of confusion,” preparation and practice will allow a crisis team to manage in a more thoughtful, controlled and forthright manner.  While it is not realistic to expect total avoidance of accidents, effective management of them can save lives, reputations and investments.

Approximately two years after that train accident, I was awakened by a phone call at 3 AM to a voice announcing there had been another train collision at the same Gunpowder River Bridge. Although my instincts were that this must be a nightmare, it was, in fact, another train collision.

By that time, however, Amtrak had a rapid response team in position to act and a well-coordinated, pre-planned response was deployed. Because the accident occurred at 3 AM, there were no passengers involved. The Amtrak train was operated by two employees who escaped free of the collision but were injured. EMS was part of the response team, and they arrived quickly to triage the injuries and transport the injured to a trauma center. Families were notified that their spouses had been injured but were in treatment at the trauma center. The Amtrak police arrived and secured the site so the press was restricted from the scene. The flow of information was controlled and a media circus was avoided.

Based upon my real-life experience with an uncontrolled crisis and one that was well-controlled, I am a strong advocate of the value of crisis management.

It works—I have seen the results and the benefits.

Construction Business Owner, July 2008