Case Study – emqnet

Ghana shooting: a lesson in managing civil unrest

Kate Ware — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 03:48:31 +0000

In the rich volcanic belt of south-west Ghana violence erupts near a gold mine operated by
one of the world’s largest resource companies. A civilian is shot dead in the skirmish,
property vandalised and workers attacked, leaving two with glass injuries. An angry mob
forms and the situation has the potential to escalate out of control, jeopardising production
at an operation that yields more than 18 tonnes of gold a year.
The crisis management team knows what to do. They have prepared for this type of
scenario. An incident is activated through the emqnet crisis management platform and
withing five minutes 43 personnel – from site teams to group executives – are notified. The
teams enact their crisis management response and withing 72 hours the incident is over and
normal operating conditions resume.

Preparation is key

It’s no stroke of luck that a $34 billion company was able to rebound from potential disaster
largely unscathed. The enterprise had been training, planning and preparing for just such an
incident for years, with the most recent training exercises conducted one month prior to
activation. This meant that when confronted with a real-life incident, the group had the
capability to instantly enact their crisis response, following the well-rehearsed framework of
the emqnet platform.

A textbook response

With relevant personnel notified almost simultaneously upon incident activation, the
company was able to switch to crisis mode without delay. Situational awareness was
promptly established, and the event assigned a medium-level threat on the severity matrix.
The company recognised the urgent need to protect assets, staff and the broader
community, and resolved to immediately bolster security, liaising with local authorities and
the regional police commander to deploy more than 200 officers and put the military on
standby. The site was secured, night shift suspended, supplier traffic diversions established,
and contingencies made for employees remaining on site. Importantly, the management
team leveraged their stakeholder relationships, reaching out to local village chiefs to
negotiate with agitated youths. The situation was defused, and the mine was back to full
operation just 72 hours after activation on emqnet.

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emqnet in Action: Powering on without power

Kate Ware — Tue, 14 May 2024 01:40:41 +0000

In the height of the Australian summer, a gold mine in remote Western Australia was confronted with the unthinkable. A gas plant had tripped, halving supply and instantly shutting down part of the mine site. To make matters worse, the disruption was expected to last two days, diminishing production at a mine that typically produces more than 11 tonnes of gold a year.

Maintaining operational continuity

With no control over external supply continuity, the company had to rapidly exercise levers within its power to minimise the operational impact of a gas shortfall. There was no time to waste: every minute was costing the enterprise money. Event activation on the emqnet crisis management platform was immediate, and within five minutes a team of 10 key personnel was notified and assembled. Their primary concern? How to shield the core operations of the business from a major supply disruption. Fortunately, they had at the ready their Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP) – a crisis management blueprint for overcoming the most severe threats to operational continuity.

Plan for prosperity

The TARP was tried and tested. In the four months before the gas disruption event, the enterprise had undertaken two training sessions to put their crisis response framework to the test. This resilience-building exercise meant that when faced with a real-life event, personnel could act quickly and decisively. Their first task was to shut down any non-essential energy use so that power could be diverted to core mining operations. The crisis management team then had to investigate alternative fuel sources and suppliers, liaising with the Australian Energy Market Operator and other stakeholders to shore up reserves. While output was affected, the enterprise succeeded in mitigating productivity loss, and within six days normal operations had resumed and the incident was closed on emqnet.

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emqnet in Action: Mining Fatality

Kate Ware — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 00:12:17 +0000

In 2018 a fatality occurred at a remote Australian coal mine operated by a $200 billion multinational resources company. A bulldozer fell into the mine pit, killing the driver, in an accident that occurred during a peak holiday period when the general manger was off-site. Operations ceased and the 1200-strong workforce was stood down while the relevant authorities attended the scene. In total, the mine was shut down for two days, at a cost of AU$1 million an hour. However, the disruption could have been much worse if the mining company did not have a rigorous operational continuity framework in place.

Planning and Preparation

While any workplace death is a tragedy, it’s an eventuality all enterprises – especially those operating in hazardous environments – must prepare for. With the emqnet crisis management platform and process-led strategies, the mining company was able to respond to the incident swiftly and effectively, minimising operational downtime. The enterprise had uploaded their crisis management plan to the emqnet platform in the months leading up to the fatality and, just days beforehand, participated in a live training event. This routine practice gave all teams the capability and capacity to effectively respond to the real-life mine incident.

Response and Recovery

Within 10 minutes of initiating an event on the emqnet platform, key stakeholders had been alerted, the Emergency Management Team (EMT) had activated, and site operations paused. Within two hours, next of kin had been notified, site and severity assessments had been completed, police had been called in and employee assistance programs initiated. During this early window, government stakeholders were also contacted, internal and external communications drafted, and a spokesperson appointed. Within four hours, the body had been recovered, an inspector had taken control of the site, and the event moved into the pre-investigation phase. Each action, communication and decision followed a prescribed process, enacted and documented through the emqnet platform.

The strength of the platform was demonstrated in its ability to seamlessly connect off-site personnel, updating team members enterprise-wide on the one, centralised system. As a result, the general manager, who was on leave at the time and several hours away, was able to link into the event via the mobile app and receive real-time updates. This platform connectivity meant that by the time the manager arrived at the site some hours after incident activation, they had full situational awareness and were immediately able to assume a lead role in the Incident Management Team/Crisis Management Team (IMT/CMT) without any undo delay. The swift, efficient response – enabled by the emqnet framework – potentially saved the enterprise hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity. In an era where companies are measured on their triple bottom line, the promptness and efficacy of the response also publicly demonstrated the enterprise’s commitment to upholding its obligations to its workforce and regulators.

“In an era where companies are measured on their triple bottom line, the promptness and efficacy of the response also publicly demonstrates the enterprise’s commitment to upholding its obligations to its workforce and regulators.” Jarrod Wilson, emqnet CEO

After Action Review

The post-incident review is just as important as the response and recovery phase. This forensic analysis of what went well and what could be improved will enhance the company’s resilience program going forward. The review, which exposed incident notification weaknesses and failures in communications equipment, will inform how the enterprise’s crisis management plan is revised and augmented. This, coupled with ongoing training, ensures the organisation is best placed to respond to whatever unforeseen eventualities may occur in future.

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emqnet in Action: Defusing an industrial dispute

Chris De Courcy Cann — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 03:41:55 +0000

A disgruntled workforce, emboldened by an aggressive union campaign, can rapidly spiral into an industrial crisis – threatening productivity, stakeholder relations and reputation. It’s a lesson one of the world’s largest gold mining companies learnt first-hand when a union industrial dispute escalated into a full-scale blockade.

A workplace in crisis

Tensions had been simmering at a gold mine in Argentina when union-led conflict over site access reached a tipping point, forcing the mine into a costly shutdown. Union-backed workers downed tools and blocked internal roads, stopping mining operations for more than 20 hours. The downtime cost the group a day’s productivity, equating to about 26kg of extracted gold.

But the shutdown could have had deeper repercussions if not for the company investing in a comprehensive operational continuity plan. Armed with the specialised knowledge and tools from the emqnet platform, enhanced by two recent training exercises, the group was able to defuse the situation swiftly, bringing the blockade to an amicable end and getting workers back on the job promptly.

Dissecting the response

Within 10 minutes of activating the event on the emqnet platform, 53 people had been notified of the blockade, including the executive team. Contingencies were initiated to ensure that essential work relating to maintenance and ventilation continued while production work halted. The mining company simultaneously activated its chain of stakeholder networks, liaising with police, local authorities, the Labour Ministry and the media, who were probing the mine shutdown. This engagement resulted in authorities quickly issuing a conciliation order to break the impasse. Roadblocks were subsequently lifted, site access reinstated and operations resumed. In less than 24 hours the mine was back running at full capacity and the industrial turmoil was over.

Lessons learned

“The incident demonstrates the crucial role stakeholder management plays in dispute resolution. The enterprise had done their homework – identifying key stakeholders and building relationships – so that when a crisis emerged, teams could immediately engage their networks.” Jarrod Wilson, emqnet CEO

The incident demonstrates the crucial role stakeholder management plays in dispute resolution. The enterprise had done their homework – identifying key stakeholders and building relationships – so that when a crisis emerged, teams could immediately engage their networks. Without the requisite preparations in building and strengthening these stakeholder connections, negotiating a resolution would have been a far more complex and protracted process. As with any incident, the after-action review also plays a critical role in strengthening and maturing an organisation’s operational continuity program, so they are best placed to navigate future crises.

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