We've felt several small earthquakes in the Louisville area since one early Friday morning created a tidal wave in my water bed. There's been no real damage, even around the epicenter in southern Illinois.
I suggest you use this earth-shattering event to learn about your preparedness for a major quake or other natural disaster. Such natural crises are different from your average, everyday crises in an important way: In the event of a substantial earthquake, tornado, hurricane, flood, or brush fire, emergency response agencies, assistance agencies, and local clean-up contractors and equipment probably will be unavailable to your organization for quite some time. Resources pour in when there's a fire at a single facility, an explosion, or a workplace shooting. But remember that you won't be at the top of everyone's assistance list if a community, a county, or even a region of the country experiences injuries and significant damage.
Does your business recovery plan tell you how to be self-sufficient in case assistance is delayed days or months or even years (see also Hurricane Katrina)? How will you minimize your losses? How will you shorten production downtime? Where else in the country can you go to get equipment and workers to clean up and make repairs? Dust off that emergency binder on the bottom shelf and see if your plan prepares you for "the big one."
Your crisis communications plan also should prepare you for how to respond to employees, shareholders, donors, neighbors, reporters, and other stakeholders. If your company handles or stores hazardous chemicals, if your clients are vulnerable populations like the very young or very old, or if you are a highly visible employer in your community, your company may be a popular destination for reporters who are combing the area looking for good stories. Will you be prepared to say the right thing when the cameras are rolling? An example of the importance of being media-ready occurred after Friday's earthquake. It seems the only visible damage to take pictures of throughout the Midwest was a building facade that collapsed in downtown Louisville. Those bricks laying in the street were on the news coast to coast. What if that was your business? What if those bricks had hit some passers-by? How would you handle the swarm of reporters wanting to know how you could have ignored maintaining your property in a safe manner?
I know the economy stinks right now. But preparing for a crisis shouldn't be deferred to better times.You need to be ready today. If you don't have in-house staff to create and revise crisis plans, bite the financial bullet and hire someone. Or at least hire someone to get you started and review your final product.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Wal-Mart Meeting Videos Were a Smoldering Crisis That Could Have Been Prevented
Crises -- both smoldering and sudden -- hit all companies and organizations no matter how careful you may be. If you are prepared and have a good upward communications culture in place, you should be able to prevent many of the crises that can strike.
For example: Wal-Mart. For years, the company hired Flagler Productions to videotape management and shareholder meetings. But in 2006, Wal-Mart ended its relationship with Flagler. That meant the end of 95% of Flagler's revenue. To keep from going out of business, Flagler became a video archive for anyone looking for evidence in suits against the retail giant. And we all know there are many plaintiffs out there targeting Wal-Mart.
For example, Wal-Mart has been accused of discriminating against women, which it denies. But video is available of Sam Walton himself telling the board there weren't enough women in management. Flagler charges $250 an hour for video research and additional fees for a DVD copy of film clips.
Wal-Mart and Flagler had no contract, so Wal-Mart has no legal claim to the videos, which date back to the '70s. The company reportedly offered half a million dollars for the tapes, but Flagler expects to earn several times that much by offering the videos to Wal-Mart's enemies.
The lesson here is to take minutes at meetings. Don't hire an outside firm to tape them. If you must record private meetings, you certainly need a contract that makes you owner of all footage. This smoldering crisis easily could have been prevented. Don't let a similar situation place your organization in an embarrassing -- and expensive -- predicament.
For example: Wal-Mart. For years, the company hired Flagler Productions to videotape management and shareholder meetings. But in 2006, Wal-Mart ended its relationship with Flagler. That meant the end of 95% of Flagler's revenue. To keep from going out of business, Flagler became a video archive for anyone looking for evidence in suits against the retail giant. And we all know there are many plaintiffs out there targeting Wal-Mart.
For example, Wal-Mart has been accused of discriminating against women, which it denies. But video is available of Sam Walton himself telling the board there weren't enough women in management. Flagler charges $250 an hour for video research and additional fees for a DVD copy of film clips.
Wal-Mart and Flagler had no contract, so Wal-Mart has no legal claim to the videos, which date back to the '70s. The company reportedly offered half a million dollars for the tapes, but Flagler expects to earn several times that much by offering the videos to Wal-Mart's enemies.
The lesson here is to take minutes at meetings. Don't hire an outside firm to tape them. If you must record private meetings, you certainly need a contract that makes you owner of all footage. This smoldering crisis easily could have been prevented. Don't let a similar situation place your organization in an embarrassing -- and expensive -- predicament.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sierra Pre-Filled Quality Director Arrested; President Still 'Unavailable'
We now have an idea why the FBI and FDA raided Sierra Pre-Filled in Angier, North Carolina, this month. The Daily Record in Dunn reports the former quality control director has been arrested and charged with allegedly approving the shipment of contaminated syringes (If you don't know what I'm talking about, see the Sierra Pre-Filled postings below and in 2007, January, and February.) and failing to conduct proper testing. (http://www.dunndailyrecord.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=95868&TM=38443.26) An unnamed employee reported that Ravindra Kumar Sharma never tested any syringes. The Daily Record article states, "According to the employee, when a testing device broke in the lab between September 2006 and March 2007, Mr. Sharma told her to 'just record a value,' the News & Observer reported. The complaint stated that employees recorded false dates of the tests after authorization from an AM2PAT (Sierra's parent company in Chicago) executive."
An AM2PAT executive, eh? So knowledge of the lack of inspections went high up in the company. The article also explains, "Dr. Dushyant Patel, president of Sierra Pre-Filled and a Chicago radiologist, has been unavailable for comment." He has been unavailable since the first recall notice went out in December. I'm putting one and one together and smelling a rat!
Maybe, just maybe, I am starting to understand why Patel is among worst managers of a crisis I have ever seen.
An AM2PAT executive, eh? So knowledge of the lack of inspections went high up in the company. The article also explains, "Dr. Dushyant Patel, president of Sierra Pre-Filled and a Chicago radiologist, has been unavailable for comment." He has been unavailable since the first recall notice went out in December. I'm putting one and one together and smelling a rat!
Maybe, just maybe, I am starting to understand why Patel is among worst managers of a crisis I have ever seen.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Media Relations Are More Effective When You Don't Use Firearms
I have important advice for any of you ever surprised by the sudden appearance of a TV news crew: Don't threaten to shoot them.
Alas, that was the media relations strategy used by West Virgina coal boss Don Blankenship when an ABC reporter and camera approached him in his company's parking lot in Belfry, Kentucky. (Thanks to Jim Bruggers' blog for the latest on this story, http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/bruggers/blog.html.) I blogged before about Blankenship vacationing on the French Riviera with the state supreme court justice. Later, Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard was part of a 3-2 majority that overturned a multi-million-dollar judgment in favor of Blankenship and Massey Energy. For details, see my blogs on January 23 and February 6.
ABC news details the encounter at http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4582452&page=1. According to Blankenship's attorney, "the ABC reporter 'pushed his camera closer to Mr. Blankenship's face' without 'having identified himself or his news organization.' I guess he missed the reporter's self-introduction, the ABC news truck, and the insignia on the camera equipment. Watch the ABC news tonight (April 7) and you'll reportedly be treated a a tape showing the reporter twice identifying himself; Blankenship saying, "If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot;" and then Blankenship approaching the reporter, twisting the view finder, and breaking off microphone.
The Institute for Crisis Management regularly conducts media training. We never recommend Blankenship's approach to our clients. Visit our web site at http://www.crisisexperts.com/.
Alas, that was the media relations strategy used by West Virgina coal boss Don Blankenship when an ABC reporter and camera approached him in his company's parking lot in Belfry, Kentucky. (Thanks to Jim Bruggers' blog for the latest on this story, http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/bruggers/blog.html.) I blogged before about Blankenship vacationing on the French Riviera with the state supreme court justice. Later, Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard was part of a 3-2 majority that overturned a multi-million-dollar judgment in favor of Blankenship and Massey Energy. For details, see my blogs on January 23 and February 6.
ABC news details the encounter at http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4582452&page=1. According to Blankenship's attorney, "the ABC reporter 'pushed his camera closer to Mr. Blankenship's face' without 'having identified himself or his news organization.' I guess he missed the reporter's self-introduction, the ABC news truck, and the insignia on the camera equipment. Watch the ABC news tonight (April 7) and you'll reportedly be treated a a tape showing the reporter twice identifying himself; Blankenship saying, "If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot;" and then Blankenship approaching the reporter, twisting the view finder, and breaking off microphone.
The Institute for Crisis Management regularly conducts media training. We never recommend Blankenship's approach to our clients. Visit our web site at http://www.crisisexperts.com/.
Disappearing Act by Sierra Pre-Filled Owner Perhaps Starting to Make Sense; Missing News Coverage Still a Mystery
"Here’s a crisis that could get much bigger before it goes away. All signs so far point to a lack of ownership and management of a problem whose proportions are still uncertain." (From my blog, December 19, 2007)
There is no story I have blogged about more than the Sierra Pre-Filled tainted syringes. Follow the trail from the 2007 archive through January and February of this year. In a nutshell: Dozens of patients were severely sickened by heparin-filled syringes contaminated by bacteria. The syringes were produced by Sierra Pre-Filled in Angier, North Carolina. Shortly after the product was recalled in December, the FDA stated that the company was "not in compliance with the Quality System regulation and failed to have adequate controls to ensure necessary sterility of its pre-filled syringes." Several victims have filed law suits.
What does Sierra Pre-Filled President Dushyant Patel have to say? Absolutely nothing. No comment. No apology. No 'we'll try harder" pledge. The plug was even pulled on the company's web site. Nothing but silence. Perhaps now I know why. There may be more to this company and this case of contamination than appeared on the surface.
Last week, U.S. Special Agent R. Michael Hiser of the Office of Criminal Investigations of the FDA confirmed that "a federal search warrant has been issued for AM2PAT (aka Sierra Pre-Filled)." About 15 FDA and FBI agents swarmed the Angier facility on April 2 and spent most of the day there. They left with 17 cardboard file boxes and two paper bags. No one with either agency nor the U.S. Attorney General's Office has revealed the nature of the search. (See the article at http://www.dunndailyrecord.com:80/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=95671.) When they do tell us what they were looking for, we might know why Patel hid from the public and failed in every way possible to manage his company's crisis.
I've written this before about this story, but: I still find it disheartening that reporters haven't dug deeper. Patel clearly was in hiding. The company seemed to abandon its operations without notifying employees, the community and other stakeholders. Yet not even local reporters in Angier covered the story in any depth or explained what happened to this company, which reportedly employed 90 people as of last summer. I see no indication that any reporters investigated the Chicago parent, AM2PAT, also owned by Patel. Where are you, news media? I'm glad the FDA is doing its job.
There is no story I have blogged about more than the Sierra Pre-Filled tainted syringes. Follow the trail from the 2007 archive through January and February of this year. In a nutshell: Dozens of patients were severely sickened by heparin-filled syringes contaminated by bacteria. The syringes were produced by Sierra Pre-Filled in Angier, North Carolina. Shortly after the product was recalled in December, the FDA stated that the company was "not in compliance with the Quality System regulation and failed to have adequate controls to ensure necessary sterility of its pre-filled syringes." Several victims have filed law suits.
What does Sierra Pre-Filled President Dushyant Patel have to say? Absolutely nothing. No comment. No apology. No 'we'll try harder" pledge. The plug was even pulled on the company's web site. Nothing but silence. Perhaps now I know why. There may be more to this company and this case of contamination than appeared on the surface.
Last week, U.S. Special Agent R. Michael Hiser of the Office of Criminal Investigations of the FDA confirmed that "a federal search warrant has been issued for AM2PAT (aka Sierra Pre-Filled)." About 15 FDA and FBI agents swarmed the Angier facility on April 2 and spent most of the day there. They left with 17 cardboard file boxes and two paper bags. No one with either agency nor the U.S. Attorney General's Office has revealed the nature of the search. (See the article at http://www.dunndailyrecord.com:80/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=95671.) When they do tell us what they were looking for, we might know why Patel hid from the public and failed in every way possible to manage his company's crisis.
I've written this before about this story, but: I still find it disheartening that reporters haven't dug deeper. Patel clearly was in hiding. The company seemed to abandon its operations without notifying employees, the community and other stakeholders. Yet not even local reporters in Angier covered the story in any depth or explained what happened to this company, which reportedly employed 90 people as of last summer. I see no indication that any reporters investigated the Chicago parent, AM2PAT, also owned by Patel. Where are you, news media? I'm glad the FDA is doing its job.
Claudia Sanders Restaurant Reopens; Have the Customers Returned?
Claudia Sanders Dinner House in Shelbyville, Kentucky, reopened a couple of weeks ago after a staph infection sickened well over 100 Easter buffet customers. See the items posted below. The cause was traced to a ham, but it's still unknown how the ham was infected. I've delayed updating this story because I was hoping to see some indication of whether and when the customer base returned to pre-Easter levels. I haven't seen any indications in the media coverage.
Restaurant Manager Louise Riley gets a C from me for how she handled this crisis. The restaurant is closed Mondays, and there seemed to be no proactive effort to contact key audiences, including the media, that day. Claudia Sanders tried to open Tuesday morning as if nothing was wrong. It closed a short time later. I don't know if that was a decision by the Health Department or the restaurant because of low patronage. Riley did a good job through the media, explaining that all food had been discarded, the kitchen scrubbed, and employees trained on safe food handling. Maybe there's a sign at the restaurant to reassure customers of these actions. I haven't been there. But I doubt it. The web site hasn't been updated to explain how careful the restaurant has been to prevent a recurrence. In fact, it still has a link to "Easter Buffet." Ugh!
If I learn that Riley has found ways to communicate that the restaurant is 100% safe again, I would raise her grade from a C to maybe a B. You shouldn't count solely on reporters to do your communicating for you, which appears to have happened here. She should be using her web site, advertising, offering well-publicized specials, and direct contact with regular customers and tour buses that might frequent the restaurant. Even if you put your kitchen in order, it does little good if your customers don't know about it.
Restaurant Manager Louise Riley gets a C from me for how she handled this crisis. The restaurant is closed Mondays, and there seemed to be no proactive effort to contact key audiences, including the media, that day. Claudia Sanders tried to open Tuesday morning as if nothing was wrong. It closed a short time later. I don't know if that was a decision by the Health Department or the restaurant because of low patronage. Riley did a good job through the media, explaining that all food had been discarded, the kitchen scrubbed, and employees trained on safe food handling. Maybe there's a sign at the restaurant to reassure customers of these actions. I haven't been there. But I doubt it. The web site hasn't been updated to explain how careful the restaurant has been to prevent a recurrence. In fact, it still has a link to "Easter Buffet." Ugh!
If I learn that Riley has found ways to communicate that the restaurant is 100% safe again, I would raise her grade from a C to maybe a B. You shouldn't count solely on reporters to do your communicating for you, which appears to have happened here. She should be using her web site, advertising, offering well-publicized specials, and direct contact with regular customers and tour buses that might frequent the restaurant. Even if you put your kitchen in order, it does little good if your customers don't know about it.
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