Dealing with the aftershock

Management Services, Autumn 2006 by Spiers, Carole

The first anniversary of the July bombings in London once again focused the minds of business leaders and the public on the potential impact of traumatic incidents. But as recent media coverage has highlighted, the majority of businesses are still no better prepared to deal with such incidents and their aftermath, and so prevent an already traumatic situation from becoming even worse.

If you run your own business, or have managerial responsibility for personnel within a larger organisation, the chances are that you will already have introduced measures to protect the continuity of your systems and operations if the worst should happen. But what you still may not have considered is the parallel need to ensure the wellbeing of your staff is similarly protected.

It's important therefore to have a clear understanding of the risk of trauma and how your staff could potentially be affected by it; to know what you should and should not do to help them deal with trauma; and also to have effective plans in place to ensure the impact on your employees - and your organisation - can be kept to a minimum.

The growing risk of trauma

Nothing can adequately prepare organisations or individuals for the experience of a traumatic incident, because by definition it is outside 'normal' experience.

Many victims and witnesses of violence or injury sustained in accidents, criminal activity or during their otherwise normal work may well require professional post trauma support to help them cope with the effects of their experience.

So, whilst all organisations should carry out risk assessments to determine whether employees could be at potential risk of psychiatric harm from events that they may have to deal with in the course of their work, there are some organisations whose staff, by virtue of what they do, are always potentially at risk. These include:

* The armed forces and emergency services personnel

* Bank staff and certain others in the financial field

* Those working in retail outlets, off-licences and petrol stations, where staff may be alone in the premises outside normal opening hours or even all night

* Those who have contact with the general public in circumstances where there is a greater risk of violence

Companies operating in the travel industry need to be aware not only of incidents that do occur, but also the potential for accidents occurring - and in particular, major disasters for which effective contingency plans should always be in place.

There are also many organisations operating within particular industrial sectors that are inherently hazardous, and where although good risk management can substantially reduce the incidence of accidents, they may still occur. In such instances, contingency plans need to be ready to be implemented, often at short notice, to support those involved.

You don't have to be involved to be a 'victim'

It is not only those people who are directly involved in an incident - ie victims and survivors - who may suffer the effects of trauma. It can also affect those who may be indirectly involved, eg witnesses, neighbours, families and work colleagues. All these people have the potential to be traumatised to a greater or lesser degree

The following are just some examples of how individuals can become directly or indirectly exposed to traumatic incidents and possible post-trauma stress:

Co-workers who may have to return to work immediately following a disaster will have to come to terms with the injuries and possible death of one or more colleagues, together with possible damage to workplace buildings caused by fire, water, etc. The workplace may have changed dramatically and the effect of this may impact on everyone within the organisation.

There may possibly be feelings of guilt associated with injury and loss of life. Management and staff may feel disorientated and emotional following the harrowing experiences of fellow workers, and will be susceptible to post-trauma stress. Employees may have to be relocated to other premises and be in a position of some turmoil for days, or possibly months, thereafter.

The designated first-aiders within an organisation, who may have had only limited training and experience, will most certainly be called upon to deal with a major Incident before the emergency services arrive. Yet the support that they themselves will require in the aftermath of the event is often overlooked.

The train driver who experiences a person committing suicide under the wheels of his or her train, and the maintenance team who have to remove the human remains from the track, may be required to relive the situation when they give evidence to an inquiry - which can sometimes be months or even years later. This can trigger again the traumatic reaction to the original incident, and the person may be unable to 'close the chapter' until all investigations are complete.

A traumatic incident may also impact on the confidence of other employees performing similar jobs within the organisation.

Proper consideration should also be given to people involved in potential incidents or 'near misses'. These may include people who believe that they came close to a major accident or incident, even where they themselves sustained no actual damage or physical injury.