Preparation is key

It’s no stroke of luck that a $34 billion company was able to rebound from potential disaster
largely unscathed. The enterprise had been training, planning and preparing for just such an
incident for years, with the most recent training exercises conducted one month prior to
activation. This meant that when confronted with a real-life incident, the group had the
capability to instantly enact their crisis response, following the well-rehearsed framework of
the emqnet platform.

A textbook response

With relevant personnel notified almost simultaneously upon incident activation, the
company was able to switch to crisis mode without delay. Situational awareness was
promptly established, and the event assigned a medium-level threat on the severity matrix.
The company recognised the urgent need to protect assets, staff and the broader
community, and resolved to immediately bolster security, liaising with local authorities and
the regional police commander to deploy more than 200 officers and put the military on
standby. The site was secured, night shift suspended, supplier traffic diversions established,
and contingencies made for employees remaining on site. Importantly, the management
team leveraged their stakeholder relationships, reaching out to local village chiefs to
negotiate with agitated youths. The situation was defused, and the mine was back to full
operation just 72 hours after activation on emqnet.

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Maintaining operational continuity

With no control over external supply continuity, the company had to rapidly exercise levers within its power to minimise the operational impact of a gas shortfall. There was no time to waste: every minute was costing the enterprise money. Event activation on the emqnet crisis management platform was immediate, and within five minutes a team of 10 key personnel was notified and assembled. Their primary concern? How to shield the core operations of the business from a major supply disruption. Fortunately, they had at the ready their Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP) – a crisis management blueprint for overcoming the most severe threats to operational continuity.

Plan for prosperity

The TARP was tried and tested. In the four months before the gas disruption event, the enterprise had undertaken two training sessions to put their crisis response framework to the test. This resilience-building exercise meant that when faced with a real-life event, personnel could act quickly and decisively. Their first task was to shut down any non-essential energy use so that power could be diverted to core mining operations. The crisis management team then had to investigate alternative fuel sources and suppliers, liaising with the Australian Energy Market Operator and other stakeholders to shore up reserves. While output was affected, the enterprise succeeded in mitigating productivity loss, and within six days normal operations had resumed and the incident was closed on emqnet.

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Planning and Preparation

While any workplace death is a tragedy, it’s an eventuality all enterprises – especially those operating in hazardous environments – must prepare for. With the emqnet crisis management platform and process-led strategies, the mining company was able to respond to the incident swiftly and effectively, minimising operational downtime. The enterprise had uploaded their crisis management plan to the emqnet platform in the months leading up to the fatality and, just days beforehand, participated in a live training event. This routine practice gave all teams the capability and capacity to effectively respond to the real-life mine incident.

Response and Recovery

Within 10 minutes of initiating an event on the emqnet platform, key stakeholders had been alerted, the Emergency Management Team (EMT) had activated, and site operations paused. Within two hours, next of kin had been notified, site and severity assessments had been completed, police had been called in and employee assistance programs initiated. During this early window, government stakeholders were also contacted, internal and external communications drafted, and a spokesperson appointed. Within four hours, the body had been recovered, an inspector had taken control of the site, and the event moved into the pre-investigation phase. Each action, communication and decision followed a prescribed process, enacted and documented through the emqnet platform.

The strength of the platform was demonstrated in its ability to seamlessly connect off-site personnel, updating team members enterprise-wide on the one, centralised system. As a result, the general manager, who was on leave at the time and several hours away, was able to link into the event via the mobile app and receive real-time updates. This platform connectivity meant that by the time the manager arrived at the site some hours after incident activation, they had full situational awareness and were immediately able to assume a lead role in the Incident Management Team/Crisis Management Team (IMT/CMT) without any undo delay. The swift, efficient response – enabled by the emqnet framework – potentially saved the enterprise hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity. In an era where companies are measured on their triple bottom line, the promptness and efficacy of the response also publicly demonstrated the enterprise’s commitment to upholding its obligations to its workforce and regulators.

“In an era where companies are measured on their triple bottom line, the promptness and efficacy of the response also publicly demonstrates the enterprise’s commitment to upholding its obligations to its workforce and regulators.” Jarrod Wilson, emqnet CEO

After Action Review

The post-incident review is just as important as the response and recovery phase. This forensic analysis of what went well and what could be improved will enhance the company’s resilience program going forward. The review, which exposed incident notification weaknesses and failures in communications equipment, will inform how the enterprise’s crisis management plan is revised and augmented. This, coupled with ongoing training, ensures the organisation is best placed to respond to whatever unforeseen eventualities may occur in future.

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