Crisis preparation and management standards are falling short in almost a third of businesses as a new report reveals internal teams worry their organizations are not prepared for a global chemical emergency as part of future risk management. The global study by Chemtrec, an emergency dangerous goods response service provider, asks respondents from organizations across the chemical industry anonymously to rank their organization’s emergency preparedness levels.
The survey shows that almost a third of businesses (28%) under-prioritize their chemical emergency response and crisis management, with 63% being coordinated by management or department teams rather than at a c-suite level (19%) and less than 3% of organizations employ a full-time crisis management professional. In ranking their organization’s preparedness for a crisis out of 10, where 10 is the most prepared, 17% gave their companies a score of five or lower.
Emergency preparedness and crisis management is coming under greater scrutiny. Chemtrec surveyed crisis leaders across their broad customer base, including chemical producers, logistics partners and end users, to determine the level of crisis readiness globally.
Chemtrec also sought to discover to what extent global businesses conducted regular crisis simulation exercises to test whether policies and plans are fit for purpose. Good practice recommends that simulation exercises occur at least annually, however, 19% stated exercises occur only every two or more years at best, and 18% of businesses admitted to having no stress testing plans at all. Crisis management and response training is similarly lacking, with 31% of respondents saying they don’t regularly take part in training programs. Given this lack of training, it is unsurprising that 4 in 10 people do not understand their crisis management and emergency response roles and responsibilities.
For more information, visit: www.chemtrec.com
