UK
employers are not ready to react to potential terrorist attacks because they
put too much emphasis on preparing their IT systems and infrastructure rather
than staff.
Security
specialists, speaking at the Survive 14th Annual International Conference in
London last week, fear that there is a ‘massive failing’ in the ability of
senior management across the UK to react effectively to a crisis.
As
the ‘terror cordon’ increases across London, speakers blamed an "it’s not
going to happen to me syndrome" and claimed companies have not learned
lessons from September 11, which threw many businesses into a state of
confusion.
Rob
Fountain, CEO of consultancy Survive, which specialises in business continuity
management, urged organisations to invest more time and money into training
staff to ensure they know how to react if disaster strikes.
"We
don’t have enough trained people at the right level with the right kind of
experience in enough businesses and local authorities," he said.
"A
lot of companies pay lip service to the idea of putting people first. The real
business of securing the true resilience of an organisation rests with the
skills of the people and how they will react in the circumstances. We are far
too focused on securing the data and the financial situation, and far too
little concerned with the human aspect," he added.
Problems
highlighted at the conference included the under-funding of business continuity
management in the public sector, and excessive secrecy in the private sector.
Speakers
warned companies to avoid the creation of ‘a culture of blame’ when rehearsing
staff for potential crises.
By
Michael Millar
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