9/11 ANNIVERSARY: EXPERTS WARN AGAINST COMPLACENCY
Asia’s “It-Can’t-Happen-Here” Attitude May Spell Expensive Disaster, Say International Experts
It’s been eight years since the 9/11 attacks in New York, and yet Asia still has more to keep in mind to be prepared for the worst. Business in particular are vulnerable, and threats such as terrorism, natural disasters such as Typhoon Morakot, and public health threats like swine flu may pose some of the biggest threats to business continuity.
“Take the Golden Shoe carpark in Singapore’s CBD, are the businesses around it ready if there’s an earthquake?” challenges Nathaniel Forbes, Asia Council President of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). “It’s too easy to assume the government will take care of everything, but when the (World Trade Center) twin towers fell in 2001, the businesses based in and around the buildings were the ones who picked up the pieces afterwards.”
BCM expert Dr. Joseph Ruin believes the lack of time pressure may be a factor in complacency against such threats. After all, nobody really knows when an earthquake will hit. In his bestselling industry manual, he writes “crisis involves two key elements: time pressure, threat”. He continues “indeed, the temperature of crisis depends more on the time-scale than on the magnitude of the threat”, going on to cite examples of (i) a small bomb going off in 30 seconds, (ii) a hydrogen bomb exploding in Kuching in 3 years’ time, and (iii) an asteroid colliding with Earth in 300 years’ time.
However, the cost in lives and economic losses would still be that much greater for threats that may have long or unknown timelines. Just take the recent Jakarta bombing as an example. The task of rescuing survivors, airlifting some to region’s top hospitals, securing premises, rebuilding infrastructure is no less expensive than if businesses and the government had gotten some extra warning.
Experts warn that looking for least-cost measures is not the answer, “There is no low-cost emergency”, points out Mr. Zeev Sarig, Managing Director of Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel-Aviv, whose job includes looking after the security and safety of at least 150,000 people onsite at any given moment. He continues, “cost should not be the main factor when it comes to safety.”
Asia’s “It-Can’t-Happen-Here” Attitude May Spell Expensive Disaster, Say International Experts
It’s been eight years since the 9/11 attacks in New York, and yet Asia still has more to keep in mind to be prepared for the worst. Business in particular are vulnerable, and threats such as terrorism, natural disasters such as Typhoon Morakot, and public health threats like swine flu may pose some of the biggest threats to business continuity.
“Take the Golden Shoe carpark in Singapore’s CBD, are the businesses around it ready if there’s an earthquake?” challenges Nathaniel Forbes, Asia Council President of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). “It’s too easy to assume the government will take care of everything, but when the (World Trade Center) twin towers fell in 2001, the businesses based in and around the buildings were the ones who picked up the pieces afterwards.”
BCM expert Dr. Joseph Ruin believes the lack of time pressure may be a factor in complacency against such threats. After all, nobody really knows when an earthquake will hit. In his bestselling industry manual, he writes “crisis involves two key elements: time pressure, threat”. He continues “indeed, the temperature of crisis depends more on the time-scale than on the magnitude of the threat”, going on to cite examples of (i) a small bomb going off in 30 seconds, (ii) a hydrogen bomb exploding in Kuching in 3 years’ time, and (iii) an asteroid colliding with Earth in 300 years’ time.
However, the cost in lives and economic losses would still be that much greater for threats that may have long or unknown timelines. Just take the recent Jakarta bombing as an example. The task of rescuing survivors, airlifting some to region’s top hospitals, securing premises, rebuilding infrastructure is no less expensive than if businesses and the government had gotten some extra warning.
Experts warn that looking for least-cost measures is not the answer, “There is no low-cost emergency”, points out Mr. Zeev Sarig, Managing Director of Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel-Aviv, whose job includes looking after the security and safety of at least 150,000 people onsite at any given moment. He continues, “cost should not be the main factor when it comes to safety.”
The world’s top experts in Business Continuity Management, Disaster Management and Facilities Management will gather in Singapore next month to discuss how the government, businesses and the community can work together to build resilience in rapidly urbanising Asia. Emergency Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery 2009 will include case studies from the above experts, as well as case studies on Typhoon Morakot, the 2006 tsunami in Aceh, and Australia’s worst-ever bushfires in February of this year. EMPRR 2009 is organised by the AMG Center for Business Strategy and Tactics. Further information on the event is available online at www.arcmediaglobal.com/emprr09.
The CBST is a research and consultancy body, assisting organisations gain competitive edge and business optimisation through training and benchmarking in key strategic skill areas such as Human Resource Management, Finance, Risk Management, Marketing and Sales.
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For further information and to schedule interviews, please contact Rex Ian Sayson at +65 6844 2080 or email rex@arcmediaglobal.com
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