Ausgabe zur A+A 2019

20 Ausg.Nr._18/2019 Crisis Management B e it great fires, floods due to heavy rain or IT outag- es due to hacker attacks: When it comes to crisis man- agement, federal and state gov- ernments as well as cities and municipalities with blue-light organisations are all in the same boat, metaphorically speaking. Industrial companies also have to plan and prepare for emer- gencies in order to secure pro- duction and business processes and minimise economic losses. Effective structures, well-trained people and powerful technology have to be closely enmeshed to ensure that the right decisions are made in the event of an emergency. From 5 to 8 Novem- ber, A+A 2019 presents new ap- proaches and current trends on this topic in Düsseldorf. During the great fire of Notre Dame, the whole of Europe held its breath. In Paris, the fire bri- gade was able to limit the fire in the cathedral to the wooden truss after about four hours and thus saved valuable works of art and the rich interior, despite damage due to heat, soot and extinguish- ing water. “An achievement that was only possible thanks to the Paris fire brigade’s organised crisis management,” says Rai- mund Bücher, Director of Fire Brigade at Henkel in Düsseldorf. “The size of the object was cer- tainly a particular challenge. In addition, knowing that irre- placeable cultural goods were at risk required special protec- tive measures. Thank goodness the entrances had already been closed when the fire broke out, as this meant that no-one was hurt in this disaster.” Equipped for complex requirements Effective crisis management, as seen during this event, requires a perfectly coordinated team with a transparent leadership struc- ture, modern safety equipment and powerful technical aids. “We aim to prepare people for emer- gencies, even if no-one can be prepared for every possible situa- tion,” says Norbert Jetten, Head of Technology at BYK-Chemie in We- sel. “The requirements are quite complex: At the end of the day, we need to be just as able to deal with a fire or substance release as with hacker attacks or the effects of a natural catastrophe.” Clearly defined tasks For this, it is vital to have a team in which each member knows exactly what to do. “Depend- ing on the size of the company, clearly defined functional areas or specialist departments are in- volved,” says Stephan Hummel, Head of Fire Protection at Cur- renta. The company manages and operates CHEMPARK with three locations in Germany: Lev- erkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld. They have defined who passes on information, both internally and externally, and have also deter- mined the analysis of the event. What dangers does the situation present for people and the envi- ronment, which area is affected, what is the prognosis — these are all questions that need to be answered as fast as possible in these situations. And measures such as warning and informing the public, planning the emer- gency response and providing the necessary personnel and technical resources all depend on the answers. At A+A 2019 in Düsseldorf, five short presenta- tions will focus on crisis man- agement. They address, among other issues, the meaning of emergency response for small, mid-sized and large companies, the topic of digitalisation and the role of social media as part of cri- sis communications. At the GFPA German Fire Protection Asso- ciation stand, experts will be on hand to engage in dialogues with professional visitors. Among oth- ers, Currenta, Henkel and the In- dustrial Fire Protection Associa- tion of Germany will be present. Multi-user locations are increas- ingly recognising the advan- tages of being closely intercon- nected. Large companies like Currenta connect different lo- cations to several security cen- tres. Identical IT programmes facilitate communication, whilst procedures and processes that have been aligned with one an- other help maintain an overview of the situation. Services are further optimised with the aid of state-of-the-art control centre software, allowing users to fulfil their statutory reporting obliga- tions even more quickly in future and to streamline organisation- al processes as well as the en- tire information and emergency management. Crisis Management Concerns everyone