Activating an incident management team
- it is important to ensure a consistent approach to any major incident across your business. If you already have an incident management (IM) team in place, alert its members (subject to conflicts of interest). If there is no suitable IM team in place, establish one immediately
- the IM team should provide strategic management during any major incident, with operational-level personnel co-ordinating the implementation of decisions taken and tactical-level personnel (eg medics or security staff) implementing decisions on the ground.
- the IM team should include senior technical staff with detailed knowledge of the relevant areas of operation, as well as members of the relevant business units (eg legal, public relations, IT, compliance, health and safety, environment, medical and human resources). Where possible, the team should include individuals who have been involved in developing and rehearsing the organisation's emergency response/business continuity/disaster recovery plan (the response plan) (see Putting the response plan into action)
Keep the following points in mind:
- include at least one senior employee or board director in the IM team, to enable decisions to be taken and acted upon quickly and to secure necessary resources and co-operation
- appoint an IM team leader to lead strategic decision-making - responsibility and reporting lines must be absolutely clear, both within the IM team and among personnel working at operational and tactical levels
- remind the IM team of the importance of confidentiality, legal privilege and document retention/management, even within the business; the members of the IM team should also be instructed about avoiding the creation of non-privileged communications where appropriate (see Document control and securing privilege)
- consider which internal or external specialist consultants and/or advisers may be needed to assist in responding to the incident
