Preparing for the Unexpected
ALEX FULLICK, MBCI,CBCP,CBRA,ITIL,CORS,cABCF,ISO22301,Author
Preparing for the Unexpected is about how people, organizations and communities plan, prepare, test, communicate and respond to sudden unplanned events such as natural and manmade disasters and crises. The show is for everyone who wants an understanding of how plans are created for individuals, organizations and communities and for anyone who wants to know what they can do in their own lives to help protect themselves from unexpected events.
There is a myth that disasters happen to others but in reality, they happen to everyone. It's just a matter of when and how well-prepared you are. The greater the level of awareness, communication and knowledge, the quicker one bounces back from adversity.
The overall aim of Preparing for the Unexpected is to reduce the suffering, effects and impacts caused as a result of disasters and unexpected life events by increasing knowledge and awareness of Operational Resilience, Business Contingency, Disaster Planning, Crisis Management, and related activities.
There is a myth that disasters happen to others but in reality, they happen to everyone. It's just a matter of when and how well-prepared you are. The greater the level of awareness, communication and knowledge, the quicker one bounces back from adversity.
The overall aim of Preparing for the Unexpected is to reduce the suffering, effects and impacts caused as a result of disasters and unexpected life events by increasing knowledge and awareness of Operational Resilience, Business Contingency, Disaster Planning, Crisis Management, and related activities.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 22, 2019 • 54min
Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It
In today's business world, organizations can be very complex in nature; from system complexities technical in nature and those that are process and procedural in nature. In either case, these systems can create allot of chaos and confusion when they fail. We talk with 'Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It' author, Chris Clearfield (co-authored with Andras Tilscik). Chris with discuss what causes our internal - and external - systems to become so complex, creating the opportunity for failure further down the road. We'll learn how redundancy is actually better implemented at the outset of any initiative rather than trying to implement it at the end. Chris will also talk about some key solutions organizations can leverage to help ensure that their systems are safe, secure and manageable.
Aug 15, 2019 • 52min
How Organizational Health and Wellness Enhances a Resilience Cult
A culture of health (inclusive of mental health), within the workplace can contribute to the overall effort of an organization to improve and sustain the health and productivity of its workforce. We talk with mental health expert Dr. Robert Quigley, who will help us understand why mental health concerns are vital to the ongoing success of organizations. We’ll identify some of the triggers that can cause mental health issues for individuals – and ultimately organizations, known as NCDs - and what organizations can do to help address them. Dr Quigley’s extensive background and knowledge will help us all understand that to make our organizations resilient, we’ve got to focus on the people first. It’s sure to be a very informative talk.
Aug 8, 2019 • 56min
Preventing and Managing Violence in Organizations
Workplace Violence is something that many organizations must deal with. Even if the risk is not great, organizations must still account and prepare for the risk, which if not dealt with, can cause major trauma for the impacted organization. We talk with Dr. Marc Siegel, author of 'Preventing and Managing Violence in Organizations' about how we can identify the risk of workplace violence and what we can do to protect, and include, impacted stakeholders. Marc will also provide us some guidance on how to involve stakeholders during the planning phase using real-life examples and how a workplace violence initiative can be incorporated into existing BCM or DR programs.
Aug 1, 2019 • 56min
The Business Analyst and How They Help BCM and DR
No Business Continuity Management (BCM) professional can know everything about business operations, as there's just so much to know. However, a BCM professional can learn allot about an organizations operations by speaking with a Business Analyst (BA), whether they be Business or Technical in focus. We speak with experienced BA expert Bill Baxter who will speak to us about the roll of the BA and what we can learn from them to help us understand business - and technical - operations. When building our continuity plans we need the input of skilled and knowledgeable resources to make our plans strong, viable and usable, and the Business Analyst is one of the key roles to help get the right plans in place.
Jul 25, 2019 • 54min
Disaster Risk Reduction and Public Health Concerns in South Africa
Water pollution and Service Delivery issues have long plagued South Africa for multiple reasons. We'll talk to Dr. Roman Tandlich of Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa who will outline his studies in Disaster Risk Reduction and Public Health Implications; a paper presented at the TIEMS Conference in Manila, Philippines (Nov 2018). We'll learn some of the challenges encountered by South Africa with its water supply and how the government, planners and its people are steppinig up to address the situation; from increasing public awareness to government policy changes. Roman will also talk to us about how his research, which encompasses multiple countries, can be leveraged to help less fortunate areas benefit from the successes of areas that have dealt with water and sanitation issues.
Jul 18, 2019 • 56min
AGRO Terrorism
Terrorism isn't just about the guns, firefights and explosions we see on the news channels. An often overlooked terrorism threat is Agricultural Terrorism (agro-terrorism). We'll speak with Emergency Management subject matter expert and registered nurse, Dee Grimm who will speak to us about the threat of Agro-Terrorism. We'll learn about the various kinds of agents that can be used in agro-terrorism and how these agents can be used to impact society. We'll hear about the challenges faced by growers and other agricultural agencies when trying to mitigate against impacts posed by agro-terrorist threats. Dee will also provide us some tips on how we can prevent agro-terrorism from becoming 'real' by detailing some of the mitigation protocols currently in place to deal with such a terrorist act.
Jul 11, 2019 • 56min
Community Resilience
Along with Organizational Resiliency, Community Resiliency is a hot topic in today's Business Continuity / Disaster Planning world. For this episode we talk to Professor Geoff A. Wilson from the University Of Plymouth, UK. Prof. Wilson is also the author of 'Community Resilience and Environmental Transitions', which will be our focus for this show. Prof Wilson will talk to us to better understand Community Resilience and what disturbances - both natural and anthrogenic in nature, impact our communities and how we identify resilience communities from non-resilient communities. We'll also learn what factors can help us create resilient communities and what factors can cause a resilient community to become less resilient.
Jun 20, 2019 • 57min
Biological Terrorism
Terrorism comes in many forms; it's not just the guns and firefights we see on the news channels. One form is Biological Terrorism and we'll speak with Emergency Management subject matter expert and registered nurse, Dee Grimm who will speak to us about what BIO-Terrorism is. We'll learn about the various kinds of biological agents and their effects upon us and the treatments for those that have been exposed. Dee will also discuss how the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) categorises a biological threat and how various enforcement agencies need to work together when faced with biological terrorism. We'll hear about a real-life example where Dee dealt with the challenges of leadership and command during a biological terrorism event.
Jun 13, 2019 • 54min
Continuity and Resilience Today Conference Summary - May 2019
The Continuity & Resilience Today (CRT) conference was held May 29-30, 2019 in Toronto. It was the second CRT conference and was full of skilled experts and knowledgeable speakers. This show provides a quick overview and summary of some of the sessions held over the 2 days and some of the key points that were discussed and presented to attendees.
Jun 6, 2019 • 56min
Technology and Emergency Management
Technology is present in every aspect of our daily and business lives; this includes being an important factor in Emergency Management. We speak with the author Dr. John C Pine about his book Technology and Emergency Management. We'll discuss how technology is changing Emergency Management and how it can be leveraged to better aid our Emergency Planning, Response, Recovery and Mitigation capabilities. Dr. Pine will also tell us about some of the existing technologies being utilized, as well as some of the operational challenges when utilizing technology in Emergency Management.
