Commercial Response Organisations are a group of service providers that act in support of those responsible for major incident preparedness, response and management over a range of disruptive events and major incidents. In this article, Martin Iversen explores what they do and how their role is becoming increasingly vital in building resilience across industry, commerce and communities
‘Everything we know about the future is wrong, we just don’t know by how much’ … I’m not sure when or where I first came across this statement. I do remember thinking at the time it was one of those catchy little phrases that conference speakers throw out as a (hopeful) opening, attention grabbing ice-breaker. What I have come to realise is that it is a concept, that once accepted can drive a level of thinking and mindset that is essential for modern business – especially if that business is preventing and preparing for major incidents.
In the business and commercial world, we are used to planning, operating and adapting to a world described as volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous. It is increasingly apparent that in order to continue to manage major emergency events, build effective and robust response mechanisms and create resilience in businesses and across our communities we have to think and act with a similar mindset.
One of the problems we face is that most preparedness planning is based on our current level of understanding and thinking – what we know we know. Twenty, or even ten years ago would we have predicted some of the major incidents that we are having to manage today? The space we need to get to is what we don’t know we don’t know – anticipating and predicting the future. Can we take what we know today and imagine what we might be dealing with in five, let alone ten years’ time? The difficulty is that even if we can, convincing people that our predictions might have some sense of reality and then to plan and resource around them. So, what does the future look like?
A gaze into the future
What is very clear is that as the future unfolds the rates, scales, kinds and combinations of events requiring specialist response management will be vastly different to what we have seen in the past. In particular those intent on carrying out terrorist acts will continue to enhance, change, adapt and develop their skills and methodologies in an attempt to out-step our security, police and response organisations capability and capacity. On a more domestic note, industrial and commercial accidents will happen, as unexpected and unpredictable as they are.
To add to this, the escalating and still to be understood and quantified effects of climate change will impact our daily lives with the potential to stretch resources more widely and for longer periods.
Agencies and organisations responsible for incident management will continue to adapt scope and range of operations to ensure they are prepared to manage anticipated events. We are already seeing Police and Ambulance Service Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) and other response personnel in the ‘Hot Zone’, an area historically the domain of the Fire and Rescue Services. The military will be deployed more frequently in support of civilian agencies placing an additional burden on their already stretched resources. The scope, skills requirements and reliance on voluntary organisations will challenge current capacity.
Indications are that resources to deal with the escalation and diversity of incidents while managing business as usual will become increasingly challenged. Financial resources will be more constrained, and this will impact on the traditional frontline organisations. We will also see a more aware, savvy, educated and demanding stakeholder base: political, community and media. This will place an additional burden on decision-makers at all levels, and will also set in the context of a fast paced, social media driven, globalised society.
Given this quite stark outlook, there will be a requirement for specialist input to scenario identification, response management and recovery. A gap I would suggest can and will be filled by organisations outside those traditionally seen and recognised in emergency response – Commercial Response Organisations.
Commercial Response Organisations
Commercial Response Organisations (CROs), such as Braemar Response, are a small, specialist and in some cases, niche group of service providers that act in support of the government, local authority, emergency services, industry, commerce and those responsible for safeguarding critical national infrastructure. While for most their scope of work is primarily response, for a number, including Braemar Response, their scope of work involves a wider engagement cycle of risk and threat identification and assessment, to preparedness, response, control and event mitigation, with experienced personnel also providing essential business continuity guidance enabling speedy recovery from an adverse incident or event and return to normal operating. CROs like Braemar Response undertake training and competency building at each of these stages.
Often described as all hazard, all risk responders CRO’s routinely find themselves involved in incidents and events that may be natural (major flooding), industrial (chemical response), criminal (post incident support) or infrastructure (support to airport, road and rail networks).
At central government level, Braemar Response are part of the DEFRA CBRN Recovery Team framework contract. As part of the framework, Braemar Response, along with a wider range of government, military and emergency service personnel, took part in a major ‘real play’ decontamination exercise aimed at testing the framework including the handover of an incident from ‘Blue Light’ emergency services to recovery. The exercise also evaluated Braemar’s capability and competence. Braemar Response was also involved in the UK’s national response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and maintains the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) contract for Oil Spill and Hazardous and Noxious Substance response maintaining equipment stockpiles at five locations across the country.
Support for Blue Light services includes crime scene decontamination and removal of hazardous substances. For example, following the July 2005 terrorist incidents in London, Braemar Response assisted the Metropolitan Police in post incident decontamination and recovery work. On a routine basis CRO’s support Fire and Rescue Services in joint incident response providing specialist equipment and in post incident decontamination and clean-up, thereby releasing resources.
As previously mentioned, work with the private sector, industry and commerce ranges from risk assessment and pre-incident preparedness, through incident response to Business Continuity. A key aspect of this is embedding personnel in crisis and emergency management teams bringing specialist knowledge, experience and expertise to assist in major incident management.
How response works today
Response to major incidents today is, as we know, predominantly by Blue Light services, police, fire and ambulance as primary response agencies. This is supported by an increasingly engrained Multi-Agency Approach through the JESIP framework in which strategic management elevates with seriousness or escalation potential. In various review papers it has been described as ‘a fundamentally ingrained culture of interoperable working’. CRO’s involvement is largely operational and post-incident, although they often also provide specialist early response capability. CRO’s are also becoming increasingly first responders to some incidents, particularly in connection with chemical transportation where manufacturers have responsibilities for safe carriage of dangerous goods and where incidents are on private premises. It would probably be accurate to say that the public expects to see ‘Blue Lights’, industry increasingly retains Orange Lights.
At national level, the Civil Contingencies Act and accompanying measures provides a single framework for civil protection. It defines organisations at the core of response, Category 1 organisations and those that are ‘co-operating bodies’, Category 2 organisations. Interestingly and worthy of note is that the Act is silent on the role of CRO’s.
Building an integrated approach
To ensure that we continue to evolve and develop our preparedness and response systems and resources to address a future that is most likely not dissimilar to the one described above, we need to create a fundamentally, more comprehensive ingrained culture of interoperable working - by a wider and more formal involvement of CRO’s in the whole cycle from threat identification, through response to recovery. There are some barriers to overcome. There is limited understanding of CRO capability and capacity within many sectors of the Blue Light services, central and local government. As indicated it is unclear how and where CRO’s fit into MIER and wider Resilience framework and formal guidance and financial protocols are imprecise on CRO role. At National level, response protocols do not adequately cater for CRO involvement.
Integration is not straightforward, but borrowing a model from I don’t remember where, I see four key steps – educate, integrate, fix and enroll.
Fill the knowledge gap (educate): CRO’s need to continue to provide examples of the knowledge, experience, work and capability at all levels and to the Blue light services. CRO’s also need to understand how the formal response processes work and ensure that they can work within the established frameworks.
Take an integrated approach (integrate): there is an opportunity to formalise the role of CRO’s within existing frameworks – Civil Contingencies Act standard and guidance. CRO’s should be involved in conversations (risk assessment, planning and preparedness) and not just response – there is so much knowledge and experience in these organisations.
Remove barriers (fix): as mentioned above, building the role of CRO’s into standards, guidance and protocols will help to formalise the role. There is an opportunity for wider and more frequent joint training and exercises. This will build trust and joint understanding. There is a funding issue – CRO’s are ‘commercial’ so someone has to pay. A grown-up conversation is required in the context how we fund major incident response in the future.
Mobilise for action (enroll): create an environment in which all appropriate parties’ plans, trains and works together.
If we accept the concept that everything we know about the future is wrong, we just don’t know by how much. It perhaps follows that ‘the only way to predict the future is to create it’. What I am creating here is a vision of the future for major incident management that (through necessity) has greater support from and reliance on CRO’s. CRO’s have a current role, they are already working alongside other response agencies and advising and guiding many organisations. The opportunity exists to formalise and strengthen this role to enhance capability, capacity and therefore our resilience.
Martin Iversen is the country manager for Ireland and executive consultant for Braemar Response Limited. He is responsible for all Braemar Response business activities in Ireland and acts in a wider consulting role, at C Suite and senior leadership levels. With over 30 years’ experience in the arena of resilience, security and crisis and emergency management, in both public and private sectors, Martin has served in the UK emergency services, for the some of the world leading energy companies and now with a Commercial Response Organization.
Coupled with extensive international experience and roles at corporate and operational levels, he conveys a global, strategic and culturally diverse perspective together with solid, hands-in experience.
