{"id":1537,"date":"2022-03-08T08:23:47","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T07:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/offb.no\/?p=1537"},"modified":"2022-03-09T12:33:15","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T11:33:15","slug":"krisehandtering-i-store-hendelser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/krisehandtering-i-store-hendelser\/","title":{"rendered":"Crisis management in major incidents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Text: Alf Inge Molde<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen does a crisis actually end?\u201d professor Odd Einar Olsen asks, rhetorically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those affected, it may never end. For those who have an operative role in handling the crisis, the answer is: When the fire is extinguished and everyone\u2019s gone home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But putting out the fire does not necessarily mean that the crisis is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPolitically speaking, the crisis is not over until trust is restored. Which implies that people must have faith in the crisis management, accept what has happened, and believe in the involved parties\u2019 representation of the events. It also means that people are willing to accept the findings of the investigations,\u201d Olsen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A credible ending may therefore be the result of a long-lasting process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A neglected topic in the literature on crisis management<\/strong>
On February 23, OFFB assembled emergency response personnel, from the second-line operational and third-line strategic levels, for a workshop on strategic emergency management beyond the initial phases of a crisis. The workshop took place at the OFFB\u2019s offices at Forus outside Stavanger, and was initiated and chaired by the Competence Centre\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odd Einar Olsen gave a though-provoking presentation of the political dimension of crisis management, and the art of ending a crisis. He was followed by \u00d8istein Johannessen, vice president of communications at Equinor, who shared Statoil\u2019s learnings from the handling of the helicopter accident near Tur\u00f8y island, North-East of Bergen, in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olsen is a professor of risk management and societal safety at the University of Stavanger, and has researched and written a number of textbooks on crisis management and media coverage of crises. In addition to this, he has 20 years of experience from relief work, crisis handling, development aid and technology transfer in 18 countries, working for the United Nations and the Norwegian Refugee Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believes the closing of a crisis is a neglected topic, both in textbooks and political documents - despite the fact that it will affect how the crisis is understood and explained in the future, and the reputation of those responsible for handling the events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe focus of the literature on crises, is first and foremost on preparedness and the handling of a crisis itself. When it comes to ending a crisis, it mostly concerns the debriefing of staff and the learning afterwards. Very little is written about the political closing of crises, and the risks involved when this is handled in a poor manner,\u201d Olsen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Big crises do not end by themselves. Someone will have to declare them being over. Professor Odd Einar Olsen would like to see a clear and well-considered strategy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Clear and well-considered strategies wanted<\/strong>
This is a subject that should be addressed, he believes. Big crises do not end by themselves. Someone will have to declare them being over. By then, both operational and political tasks should be completed, preferably in parallel. At the same time, the public \u2013 the media included \u2013 should perceive the crisis to be over. When an ending is declared too soon or in the \u201cwrong\u201d manner, big problems will loom in the aftermath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classic examples include the offshore platform Alexander Kielland capsize in 1980, the plane crash near Mehamn in 1982, and the ferry disasters Scandinavian Star in 1991 and Estonia in 1994, he argues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe common features of these incidents were: Many casualties and massive attention at the time. Many were left with the impression that not all the facts were included in the investigations, and new information not taken into consideration later on. The identification of scapegoats was disputed, and the events attracted a lot of media attention,\u201d Olsen points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could these discords and problems afterwards have been avoided? It is difficult to say for certain. It is also difficult to produce a consistent scenario for how to achieve an acceptable ending, he admits. Each incident will have its own distinctive characteristics and challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing the right things is not enough, Olsen adds. Credibility is also about form, content and trust. The closing process also involves other actors than those engaged in operational tasks. The real acid test is whether the general public accepts that the crisis is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to see a clear and well-considered strategy for how this can be achieved,\u201d the professor says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo not underestimate the follow-up work\u201d
<\/strong>\u00d8istein Johannessen, vice president of communications at Equinor, was invited to share experiences from the way Statoil\u2019s emergency response organisation handled the helicopter crash at Tur\u00f8y, which happened on April 29 in 2016. Two pilots and eleven passengers lost their lives in the most serious accident within the Norwegian oil and gas industry since the turn of the millennium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo not underestimate the follow-up of next of kin,\u201d he advises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Crises and serious incidents will leave a deep imprint on the organisation for a long time afterwards, \u00d8istein Johannessen says.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to have clearly defined roles, tasks and reporting lines. Prioritise those directly affected, and the people closest to them. Do not underestimate their insecurity. Have sufficient staff available. Put internal resource personnel to use. Be consistent in your communications. And exercise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCrises and serious incidents will leave a deep imprint on the organisation for a long time afterwards, both on a human level and on the company\u2019s security efforts. Serious incidents are both epoch-making and defining events,\u201d Johannessen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuous improvement and progress
<\/strong>The Operator\u00b4s association for emergency response (OFFB) is working continuously to improve and develop itself. It is constantly seeking new knowledge \u2013 both from academia and from other organisations\u2019 handling of real incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workshop is part of a goal-oriented effort to further develop work tools and training- and exercise concepts for crisis management beyond the initial phases. This is a focus area for OFFB in times to come.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How should people affected by crises be followed up in the best possible way? And when should a crisis be declared over? Those were key questions at a workshop on strategic crisis management, organised by OFFB\u2019s Competence Centre at the end of February.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nyheter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1537"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1545,"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537\/revisions\/1545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offb.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}