FEATURE


“The website helped companies make informed decisions and provide accurate information to employees and their families”, says David. The site was updated every three hours in the early days of the crisis with over 2,000 visits per day.


Engaging experts “We utilized our experience from last year’s fires in Russia and the heavy contamination during the Chernobyl nuclear incident,” says Dr Lai. “We involved all our medical directors around the world. We also brought experts onto our Medical Information and Analysis team to bring specialist knowledge in CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) planning from a public health point of view.” For example, two such experts are Richard Wakeford, a professor at the Dalton Nuclear Institute at the University of Manchester, and Dr Nelson Couch, a US-based specialist on nuclear radioactivity. Both have made significant contributions to the assessment of the risks to health posed by exposure to ionizing radiation.


Peace of mind Special advisories were sent to clients from day one. International SOS and Control Risks also held joint webinars with security and medical experts to discuss risks. Critical to their advice was the recommendation not to evacuate employees from Tokyo or defer travel there. Members were also advised to move to a distance of 80km


from the nuclear plant. More conservative than Japanese government recommendations, this advice gave peace of mind to employers, employees and affected families. International SOS and


Control Risks handled over 2,000 cases in relation to the disaster, 80% of which were requests for accurate medical and security


information. Crisis management teams organized 275 commercial and charter flights for members to leave Japan. Complications arose when the Japanese authorities reserved runways for emergency missions only, resulting in a three- to seven-day waiting time for charter flights.


teams organized 275


Low-risk countries As Japan continues its recovery, the disaster has highlighted the need for crisis and business continuity planning even in low-risk countries. “As a G8 nation, Japan is normally a secure environment in which to live and work”, says Michael Hancock, International SOS’ Group General Manager, Assistance Worldwide. “But even in low-risk countries, international companies need to implement and test crisis management plans as well as systems for locating employees in conjunction with their security and medical assistance programs,” says Hancock. ■


“ As the situation


deteriorated, we moved business- critical staff to our Singapore alarm center to ensure that assistance to clients was not disrupted.


” Hotline Issue 1, 2011 5


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16