Disaster Plan Analysis Report Following The Explosion At Tianjin Port

Threats and Strategies

Discuss about the Risk And Disaster Analysis Report.

Disasters are a common occurrence in the contemporary society. Baas, Ramasamy, DePryck, and Battista (2008) document that there has been a global increase in the frequency of the catastrophes and their severity: between the period of 2000 and 2005, an average of 240 million people were affected by natural calamities. The disasters led to demises of 80,000 individuals and resulted in damages that amounted to approximately $80 billion. Some of the disasters are natural: they are caused by unfortunate weather conditions like floods while others are as a result of human interference or negligence such as fires and explosions. Risk management procedures and planning are imperative for addressing the implications of the catastrophes. This paper is a disaster plan analysis report following the explosion that occurred at Tianjin Port in China.

Defining and analyzing threats is essential for creating a plan that would achieve the solutions to a disaster. For the explosion catastrophe, the financial risk is that the fires will lead to massive destruction of expensive property and buildings. Restoring the business activities will thus imply additional investment in the port equipment like cranes, containers and the products inside. The resulting loss will be million if not billions worth of property. Monitoring and measuring performance will be in accordance to the following plan; experts will be hired to assess the amount of losses incurred and communicate the threats in a timely fashion, a financial risk system will be installed in the company. Analyzing strategies is also imperative. The cost of business should not exceed the benefits. Therefore, the premium paid to insure the company’s assets should be in proportion to the return on investments.

Preparation for a calamity is imperative to all organizations because it helps to predict the likelihood of the occurrence and estimate the possible damage it may cause (Masten & Obradovi?, 2008). Comfort, Boin, and Demchak (2010) also emphasize on preparation for a disaster to guarantee resilience. Pre-disaster issues include risk assessment, identifying prevention measures, defining mitigation procedures, and provision of information on early warning signs and the potential losses that might arise from the occurrence of the catastrophe. For the case of the explosion in Tianjin Port, the organization will require supplies like first aid kits and an easier access to ambulatory and fire-fighting services to better prepare for such a situation. In addition, the company will need an effective communication strategy to facilitate instant reports to the necessary authorities in case the disaster occurs again. For example, the number of emergency services should be kept close to the telephones to ensure that reports are made as soon as people. During an explosion, the industry should have its departments send emergency reports to the emergency response teams in the city. The flow chart below documents the flow of information in preparation for a disaster.

Preparation for a Disaster

Next, the organization needs an effective plan for evacuation of people from the burning building. The company policy should mandate all employees to immediately vacate the facility after hearing a fire alarm (Murali & Chinchamalatpure, 2018). Vigilant measures should be taken by the administration to ensure that all workers comply with this policy.

A cost benefits analysis is imperative for this section to ensure its suitability. The following process for conducting the benefit cost analysis will be key: definition of the goals and objectives, listing alternative methods of action, listing stakeholders, measuring all benefit/cost elements, applying discounts, calculate the current net value of the options. The goals of this strategy is to prepare for a probable occurrence of an explosion by identifying the best solutions. The objectives are: to evacuate all people from burning building, to minimize damages caused by fires, and to make a policy for faster response to emergency care providers. The insurance agencies require annual premiums that would help in restoring the damaged assets. The cost total loss of assets is more compared to the amount of premiums paid. Hence insurance against fire is the best solution.

All workers and other stakeholders of the company should react accordingly to catastrophe. The decisive administration is key to taking appropriate actions in response to a disaster (Wex, Schryen, Feuerriegel & Neumann, 2014). The response criteria are divided into the following sub-categories; evacuation of people, saving livelihood and people, immediate assistance, and assessment of the losses incurred from the catastrophe. In case of an explosion, every person in the building should comply with the following steps (Balasubramanian, Massaguer, Mehrotra, & Venkatasubramanian, 2006). The first step should be to confirm and review the conditions. The second step should be to report the incident to the relevant authority. The next act should be to keenly follow the directives given by the emergency response personnel. These professionals provide people in imminent danger with the best approach to save their lives and further damage to property. Reducing the severity of the losses should be prioritized if it is possible. During a fire incident that has been caused by an explosion, the workers are obligated to use all the available tools of emergency to contact the emergency response team. This is an effective strategy because it guarantees that all the teams, from the medics, ambulatory services providers, firefighters etcetera are reached in time to save many lives and property. Finally, the people should evacuate the facility through the nearest exit and meet at the fire assembly place. The proper response to a disaster may save many lives and millions worth of property (Abir, Bell, Puppala, Awad & Moore, 2017).

Effective Disaster Response

A cost benefit analysis is appropriate for reducing severity of losses. The company should invest in fire-fighting equipment and train employees on how to use the facilities. Training for proper evacuation during disasters is also essential. However, it takes a lot of time and resources to achieve these objectives. The benefits outweigh the cost of putting up these preventive solutions.

Post-disaster activities are critical in making sure that an organization bounces back from losses caused by unfortunate catastrophes (Cretney, 2016). The activities involved in recovering from a disaster include the following: performing ongoing assistance, actions to restore services and infrastructure, measures to relocate, resettle and reconstruct the facility, measures to support both social and economic recovery, and risk assessment. Once the health and safety of employees are achieved and confirmed, the company should form a team to assess the damages caused by the disaster and suggest the necessary recommendations to return to business activities. The team should be composed of risk management experts that well qualified to review the impact of the calamity and suggest the appropriate solutions. The recovery procedures should commence immediately after reviewing the report on the losses and inventory of the damaged assets. The report should contain an extensive research of where to purchase the replacements, what was covered by the insurance plan before the fire, the expected budget etcetera. Recovery from an unfortunate occurrence is critical to a business’ success. Companies that are well equipped to recuperate from losses due to disasters achieve business success in a shorter time span (Mannakkara & Wilkinson, 2014).

Conclusion

In conclusion, disaster analysis plan should be conducted in three stages, namely pre-disaster measures, disaster response, and post-disaster procedures. The three processes ensure proper analysis, evaluation, and mitigation of risks associated with the catastrophes. Analyzing the possibility of an occurrence of the calamity and its expected impact prepares an organization to plan better for the problem. Similarly, evaluating the disaster is imperative to identify the financial position of the business as at the moment for the purpose of making effective economic decisions.

References

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