Considering the immediate post-crisis issues

Following the incident, you should consider a number of issues. These include:

  • legal implications, particularly how any claims against the company can be managed in the short term, in keeping with a longer term defence strategy
  • possibilities for recovery from third parties (eg suppliers, sub-contractors and/or employees)
  • collecting evidence that may be needed for any future litigation or investigation
  • reviewing the incident management plan to establish whether any changes need to be made
  • considering whether to instruct experts through external counsel (eg to assess any technical issues that may be relevant to liability)

Seek legal advice before asking internal or external health and safety advisers to investigate the incident and prepare a report. Although their reports may be protected by legal privilege in certain circumstances, they may be disclosable in any prosecution or in civil litigation (see Controlling document creation and securing privilege).