Ready for anything
By Jack Bess
A contracting
company won't know how good its crisis-management plan is until
it's time to use it.
Given
the difficulties of planning for an accident, it's not surprising
that when asked for suggestions about what contractors should
do after a crisis strikes, many begin with, "Adopt the right
attitude."
"The
fire department will tell you that they have the ultimate control
(at an accident site) but we like to think of it as a cooperative
effort,'' said Jeff Hanthorn, director of safety and environmental
services at the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin.
"We
like to work with them, seeing that they are trained at providing
first aid and providing rescue 
operations,''
he said. "But from a contractor's standpoint, we have employees
who are highly trained in the area of equipment and materials.''
Contractors
can't provide emergency care in the event that, for example,
part of a structure collapses, but the contractor's engineer
can provide expertise that would be helpful in reducing the potential
for a "secondary collapse,'' Hanthorn said.
Emergency
personnel and construction workers cooperated in an exemplary
fashion after the pharmacy-building collapse at the University
of Wisconsin campus in June, said Thomas Kraemer, president of
Kraemer Brothers L.L.C.
Kraemer
workers "participated in the rescue with the firemen and
the emergency personnel by using construction equipment to remove
pieces of the building and help lift things,'' he said. "At
that point, the emergency personnel were in charge. They took
over the site and we became the support crew for them.''
Fortunately,
the accident scene was "literally across the street from
the UW hospital and docs were running across the street to the
accident scene immediately after the first call to 911,'' said
Andy Eisler, project manager for the glass division of Klein-Dickert
Co. Inc., a subcontractor on the pharmacy-building project.
Kraemer
Brothers officers stayed at the hospital, keeping tabs on their
injured workers (including two who stayed overnight) and offering
support to their families, Kraemer said. While the company wanted
to resume work a soon as possible, it also gave workers the option
of taking a little time off if that would help them get over
the shock of the accident, he added. About two-thirds of the
workers returned the next day.
Expect questions
Construction
workers should expect to remain on the scene after an accident
when investigators will be gathering information. Even if employees
are distraught, it's important for investigators to obtain written
or recorded statements from them while their impressions are
still fresh, Hanthorn said. There will also be follow-up interviews
the next day, when emotions aren't running as high, he added.
With every
workplace accident in Milwaukee County, the district attorney
will handle each job site as a crime scene, said Joan Zepecki,
director of corporate affairs for Hunzinger Construction Co.
in Brookfield.
"If
a guy is walking down the stairs and breaks his leg, or someone
falls down and breaks his neck, the district attorney will send
an investigator as quickly as an ambulance would get there,''
she said.
Within
three minutes of the Miller Park disaster, there were 400 sheriff's
deputies and police officers making sure the site was locked
down, she said. Everyone who was in the site was in, and everyone
outside the site was out, she said.
Who called the
cops?
Realizing
that investigators can't discount foul play is one of the most
important things that contractors must keep in mind after an
accident, she said.
"It's
very off-putting for (construction) people, she said. "You
have a 2-by-6 that broke underneath a guy and here comes an investigator
assuming that a crime was committed. A field superintendent can
take that real hard. This is a proud group of people. But it's
very important for them to understand that that's going to happen.
It's reality. It's not something you take personally.''
The best
preparation for potential accidents is a written disaster plan
that outlines and defines responsibilities for everyone, from
the project manager down to each laborer, Hanthorn said. AGC
guidelines for a successful crisis plan include such elements
as creating a crisis-response team; conducting scenario-based
training; developing an external support network of vendors,
suppliers, drivers and so on, and devising a communications plan
to channel information promptly to employees, families of injured
workers, the media and company officers.
Leaving
anyone out of the information loop or communicating ineffectively
hurts a company's credibility, and that can create "extremely
negative short- and long-term business problems,'' said Evan
Zeppos, president of Zeppos & Associates Inc., a Milwaukee public
relations firm that handled communications relating to the Miller
Park accident.
Credibility gap
If a contractor
has an outside board of directors that has not been notified
of an accident, "imagine how the board of directors would
feel the day after a tragic accident, reading about it in the
newspaper,'' Zeppos said. "It's not the best thing to happen.
It sends the wrong signal.''
Not being
prepared to handle a crisis and discuss it publicly can hurt
a company's credibility, which is "the most fragile asset
of your organization,'' he added.
"Most
companies are bidding on three or four jobs at the same time,''
Zeppos said. "And deciding the bid comes down to three of
four people in a room, and they read about a crisis and they
see the company's saying 'no comment.' You can bet the people
making the decision are reading this and saying, 'That's not
good.' "
Forming
a well-thought-out crisis-management plan is essential, not just
as a means of ensuring safety, but also as a way to set a contractor
apart from the competition, Zepecki said.
By learning
about a firm's crisis plan, "the owners (on a project) will
know that you understand what can happen in those situations
and that you understand what to do,'' she said.
