Establishing crisis contingency plans

The following section suggests basic questions, that the management or your contact person can use when developing a course of action, that ensures you optimise your resources in the event of a crisis.

1. What are the rights and obligations of the individual employee?
2. Who is responsible for what must happen, and how the help will be provided?
3. How will you follow up on both an individual and organisational level?
4. Does the event entail changes to behaviour, regulations, knowledge as well as understanding?
5. How, and how much of the above will be communicated?

A concrete proposal for the procedure during emergency events and subsequent initiatives:

Before a colleague suffers a crisis, the following must be clarified and communicated to everyone in the organisation:

1. When does the organisation offer crisis assistance?
2. Who is/are the contact person(s) responsible for:
   • Contacting Dansk Krisekorps, and thereby a psychologist, as well as police or medical assistance if relevant.
   • Planning a temporary reduction of the workload for the victim, as well as support for close colleagues.
   • Keeping an eye on the victim in the time following the incident.
   • Informing the organisation of what has occurred (preventing rumours).
   • If relevant, notifying authorities and/or safety representatives.
3. What colleagues can expect currently, and in the long term.
4. Where employees can access information regarding crisis assistance, and where to find information and contact details about the responsible managers/contact persons.
5. Where, how often, and how the current safety protocol is evaluated.

When you or a colleague suffer a crisis, the following procedure must be initiated:

1. Immediately contact the closest colleagues and the responsible contact person - the victim(s) must not be left alone.
2. Ensure that the affected parties are brought to a calm place;
   • Show compassion and listen.
   • Accept the various emotional reactions.
   • Never leave the victim(s) to assess what courses of action should be taken.
3. The contact person or manager contacts Dansk Krisekorps and requests psychological assistance. If relevant, they may also contact police or medical services.
4. Everyone involved in the event remains on-site until there is reached an agreement with the psychologist, on what is to be the following course of action.
5. The victim(s) must not be alone for the first 24 hours if a course of action has not been initiated or decided upon.
6. The day after the incident, the victim(s), the contact person and the manager – ideally in consultation with the psychologist – draw up a light work schedule for the following week. After the first week, those involved should evaluate this schedule.
7. Ensure that someone is appointed the responsibility of informing all employees in the organization or department of the event, and ensure them that what happened, and the people involved, are being taken care of.

In the time following the event:

1. The victim(s) is/are seeing a psychologist if relevant.
2. The responsible contact person/manager is in daily contact with the victim and affected colleagues, to follow up on how they are doing - until the circumstances have “normalised”.
3. The incident is addressed at a managerial level, to clarify which conditions can and must be changed to prevent future events. An evaluation of the current safety protocol, as well as the management of the concrete events, is also conducted.
4. Appoint someone to inform affected colleagues and other employees, on how things are going, and if changes are to be made as a result of the incident. 

One to three months following the accident, once the victim(s) has/have recovered, the responsible contact person or manager investigates the affected department - is everything functioning as it should?  

See an example of a crisis contingency plan here