Having perspective is always a good thing. In this interview, Joe McEnness, Executive Director – Office of Risk Management of the Catholic Church in Boston, discusses crisis preparedness. Having a plan is one thing, knowing how to implement that plan during a crisis is a totally different matter. Practicing the plan and ensuring your team…
Corporations have a duty of care when it comes to their employees operating in unfamiliar environments. Preparing those employees for various threats is every evolving challenge. In this podcast, we talk to Charles Skinner who talks about some specific travel security challenges in Africa as well as what organizations can do to help protect their…
Traveling in this dynamic and unpredictable world can present many challenges. Some destinations can present more challenges than others. That’s why preparedness is key. Organizations have a duty of care to ensure traveling employees are provided with the right training and information. Here are few scenarios that could slow down, put a stop to or…
Organizations have the responsibility to prepare their employees to travel on their behalf. Working in certain locations present various threats that may require a response from the employee and organization. Knowing what threats to prepare for is essential. In this podcast, we review how one can prepare themselves before they travel as well as some…
As painful as it is to replay in our minds the recent terror bombing in Manchester, crisis planners are obligated to study it. Two lessons jump out: Lesson 1: Outside perimeters, by definition, are not secure Without having to pass through any sort of security screening, terrorists view outside perimeters of buildings, auditoriums, stadiums, crowded…
The United States and Canada have a long history of working together to ensure that, should there be a major incident, frameworks exist to enable joint response, across the international boundary. In 2016, total bilateral trade in goods and services exceeded $635 billion USD, a large portion of which occurs cross border via trucking and…
On October 25, 2011, a young American humanitarian aid worker, Jessica Buchanan, was in Somalia teaching children how to avoid landmines when she and her colleague were kidnapped for ransom by Somali bandits. They were held in the desert at gunpoint for 93 days before they were rescued by Seal Team 6. Buchanan will be…
There are many skills and personal traits that leaders should have in everyday business. During a crisis, a leader needs to have a range of specific traits that are crucial to the management of the incident. Here are three of those traits based on my personal experience from both the military and corporate environments: 1…
So, what is situational awareness? There are many definitions all of which explain what situational awareness is in a similar way. The term we use is as follows: Situational Awareness is “closely monitoring what is going on around you in a complex and dynamic environment”. Closely monitoring what’s going on around you will help you…
On October 25, 2011, Jessica Buchanan and a colleague were kidnapped at gunpoint by Somali land pirates and held for 93 days, enduring the most harrowing and painful experience of her life. On the day of her kidnapping, she silently said to herself, “Some do come out alive, the numbers are small but they do…