PoRtFOLIO

by Omar Ha-Redeye

A summary document, abbreviated and reformatted for the web from an original paper

Executive Summary

Communication issues in high-risk industries can be summarized as due to:

• internal resistance to safety and reputation feedback

• failing to properly participate in public debate (Roach, 2006)

The case of the 1992 Westray mines accident, one of the worst industrial disasters in Canadian history, illustrates these failures.

The result of the Westray disaster was that the company and its owners became bankrupt. Much of this can be attributed to the poor internal and external communication strategies the company employed (Richards, 1996). The framing of the incident and its predecessors was left largely to the media and the findings of judicial inquiry (O’Connell & Mills, 2003).

An approach that would have been more effective would to be forthcoming about details of the incident when they were available. Also important is to express remorse that the situation had occurred, without accepting responsibility or liability until further information is available.

This strategy could have averted the retaliatory environment created by the disaster, maintained positive relationships with the media, family members, and public, and possibly retained the economic viability of the operations.

Accidents are costly

Accidents are operational emergencies that can place a business or organization under considerable scrutiny and review. Some industries, such as mining, can be considered as high risk and should therefore anticipate that accidents are predictable and inevitable (Richcards, 1996)

Proper corporate communications can help anticipate scenarios and mitigate the permanent risk of a crisis (Ogrizek & Guillery, 1997, p. 29). The existence of technological accidents within a context of telecommunications complicates the relationships between organizations and the media, who convey and relay information to the general public, thereby necessitating adequate public relations.

The financial implications of poor crisis communication can easily result in insolvency, and as such, companies should invest resources in crisis communication plans to help create a plausible media narrative when needed.

Communication challenges

Industrial disasters are classified as tightly or loosely coupled, with linear or complex interactions. Coupling refers to the slack built into the system to respond to mistakes or changes, whereas complexity is the predictability of interconnections within the process.

(Left): The bonus system at Westray promoted overtime work, which increased risk to workers (courtesy of CBC, Dr. Gerald J.S. Wilde, and CAW)

Mining industrial crises such as Westray tend to be more linear and loosely coupled. Disasters are typically caused by straightforward operator errors and ignoring safety rules (Hynes & Prasad, 1997). Potential mitigation of an industrial disaster necessitates proper issues management through internal communications.

The role of internal communications is to provide feedback. Organizational performance is unwittingly impeded when feedback is withheld from employees (Goleman, 1998, p. 149).

Feedback provides to employees what the consequences of behaviours or actions are. An analysis of feedback is important at Westray, because it looks at the complex interactions between safety variables and various behaviours, rather than a simple cause and effect relationship (Cooke, 2003).

These internal communication failures are one of the major reasons why accidents in high-risk industries occur, and why explanations provided to the public that omit these factors are resisted.

Characterizing internal communication failures

Numerous opportunities for issues management were afforded to Westray administrators. Previous inspections had flagged crucial areas of concern in operations, and safety complaints had been filed by workers. Methanometers used to monitor levels of dangerous gas in the mines were even tampered with to avoid equipment automatically being shut down (Jobb, 1998).

These scenarios demonstrate ample opportunities for proper intervention. But rather than taking a causal relationship effect, industrial accidents of this sort should be viewed in light of the complex interactions between safety variables and various behaviours (Cooke, 2003).

Although oversight of managerial controls over safety issues should be justly criticized, the complicity of workers in circumventing protocols to facilitate an easier work shift can also be reproached, as can the inspectors who were incredibly lax in their enforcement of regulations (O’Connell & Mills, 2003 ).

Pointing fingers doesn’t work

Explaining an accident in all of its intricacies is a highly effective and more socially responsible approach to retroactive analysis.

More importantly, it avoids blaming incidents on human error due to specific individuals or groups. Scapegoating is usually not accepted by the public as a valid explanation for disasters as it appears to displace responsibility (Ogrizek & Guillery, 1997, pp. 31-32) .

The financial viability of a company after the fallout is often determined by this relationship with the public. The importance of appropriate media communications plans should therefore be clear for helping to properly inform perceptions of a disaster.

The perception of a disaster

Three specific factors determine whether an accident will eventually be perceived as a disaster by the public: the revelation of similar incidents in the field or in the same company; a provision of aid, or compensation for victims; and if events are globalized by the media, with a public interest focusing on regulation (Ogrizek & Guillery, 1997, pp. 32-33).

While the latter may be the most obvious component with a media relations theme, the other two play important roles in the sense-making process.

The public attempts to retroactively understand the incident through information provided by the media (O’Connell & Mills, 2003). The source that the media should ideally obtain this information is the company itself to be proactive instead of reactive.

The response should come quickly, because any void in information will be filled by other sources (Coombs, 1999, pp. 114-5).

(Left) Failing to provide an account immediately after the disaster largely shaped public perception of the disaster, including this reenactment. (Courtesy of “Westray: the Long Way Home,” Chris O’Neill and Ken Schwarz, 2004, Vancouver: Talon Books Ltd.)

“No comment” is a no-no

Westray completely forbade the media from asking questions relating to safety, and instead the media obtained information from other sources, including disgruntled former employees (Richards, 1996).

Lack of commentary on a central issue is perceived by the media as an admission of guilt, damages relationships and erodes trust, and invariably results in blaming mismanagement when no other explanation is offered (Coombs, 1999, pp. 115-6).

Most often this approach is employed out of fear of litigation. A more appropriate approach is to provide a rapid factual response, with a promise to provide further details as they become available (Ogrizek & Guillery, 1997, pp. 29-30). Information should be conveyed by a spokesperson to provide consistency in the message conveyed (Coombs, 1999, p. 117).

An example of the situations created when a consistent message is not provided is the Sago mine disaster in West Virginia in January, 2006. Reports were mistakenly conveyed to the surface that a dozen miners had survived an accidental cave-in.

The message was then conveyed through cellular phones to the media, the public and survivors. A self-proclaimed “nurse” even told the media she was caring for the survivors at the surface (Langfitt, 2006).

The company then had the arduous task of breaking the news to family members that only a sole survivor remained. They had failed to intervene when the rumour spread, and therefore had a much more challenging public relations scenario (Roach, 2006).

Family members of Sago miners speak out.

Why you should hire a PR agency

High-risk industries should always have pre-designated spokespersons. The purpose of a spokesperson is to provide to the media an individual who understands their needs. Advice can be sought be by a public relations firm specializing in public relations, or they can provide training for knowledgeable persons on staff.

Westray management actually went against the advice provided by Reid Management Limited, the professional public relations specialists they hired. The public relations advice they received was to properly engage the media, rather than shy away from it as legal counsel suggested.

Westray scheduled news conferences at inconvenience times that did not take publishing and broadcast schedules into consideration. They even deliberately used technical jargon that was confusing to the media and the public (Richards, 1996).

And when the media attempted to contact family members for interviews Westray officials forbade all contact. As a result, they ended up alienating both parties.

The result was a public relations disaster, which followed an industrial disaster that was tragic enough without the mismanagement of communications.

Resources

Cooke, D. L. (2003). A systems dynamics of the Westray mine disaster. System Dynamics Review 19(2):139-166.

Coombs, T W. (1999). Ongoing crisis communication. Planning, managing, responding. London: Sage Publications, Ltd.

Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. NewYork: Bantam books

Hynes, T & Prasad, P. (1997). Patterns of ‘mock bureaucracy’ in mining disasters: An analysis of the Westray coal mine explosion. Journal of Management Studies, 34 (4), 601-623.

Jobb, D. (1998). The Westray conundrum. We still don’t know why the disaster happened. Occupational Health & Safety Canada, 14(3), 24-31.

O’Connell, C J. & Mills, A. J. (2003) Making sense of bad news: The media, sensemaking, and organizational crisis. Canadian Journal of Communication 28(3):323-339.

Ogrizek, M. & Guillery, J. M. (1997). Communicating in a crisis. A theoretical and practical guide to crisis management. New York: Walter de Gruyter, Inc.

Richards, T. (1996). The Westray mine explosion: An examination of the interaction between the mine owner and the media. Canadian Journal of Communication 21(3):323-339.