How Bad Intelligence Can Hurt Your Safety Efforts
Nowadays technology is progressively playing a larger role and becoming a key player in the prevention, preparation and management of emergencies. With the progressive increase of natural and industrial disasters as well as, the appearance of pandemics, emergencies are likely to become more frequent than in the past therefore, it’s primordial for companies to take as many precautions as possible in order to alert employees and act effectively. Technological advances are made and designed to improve the way emergencies are managed, bad intelligence will lead to the downfall of your safety efforts. Communication, data analysis and security will all play a crucial role when it comes to preparing and preventing emergencies. Effective intelligence will help you not only identify but asses incoming risk.
Make Technological Preparedness a Priority
For new technologies and intelligence to be capable of acting in the case of emergency, they must first know how to behave in case of an emergency and have a plan of action of their own if the situation ever does arises. Thus, it’s essential for companies to develop a disaster recovery plan that will protect, restore and recover the infrastructures destroyed or damaged. In addition, it would be beneficial for companies to know how to restore phone lines, computer networks and servers in the event of a disaster. If for example, all of a company’s data is stored on the “cloud” being able to access it quickly becomes essential in the case of an emergency, this can only be achieved through the utilization of systems that enable remote monitoring and management. Neglecting to have this intelligence in place can beyond being damaging cost lives if the worst was to happen.
Inform the Public
It’s no surprise to anyone that communication is crucial in case of emergency. Important information must be communicated immediately and accurately widely, in order for people to have time to not only prepare but respond. Not having the proper tools and intelligence in place will keep the lines of communication from being open, imagine facing a severe weather disaster and not even being able to reach people in time or much worse, not at all. Having the proper system in place will contribute to bolstering your safety efforts rather than hinder them.
Support your Evacuation Efforts with Intelligence
Create predictive models
Having the right infrastructure combined with the proper intelligence will allow you to create predictive models which can be used to better understand the impact a disaster or emergency can have. Creating an effective plan of action that will be sure to address all concerns will be made easier with the capability of understanding and visualizing said predictive models. A recent notable example of how useful these models can be and the lives they can save is the recent Covid 19 pandemic, predictive models were able to show how the virus would spread in turn enabling the concerned infrastructure to be ready. With the rise of artificial intelligence and data technologies having access to predictive modeling has never been easier whether on a corporate or governmental level adding on another reason to have good intelligence.
Make Use of Public Information
Thankfully, technology also allows for the sharing of information (this includes social media), information which in the event of an emergency is invaluable. When people directly experiencing the situation relay their experience via the internet to the general public, it allows others to gain insight and prepare. It is therefore important that this type of information from a public source, remains accessible.
Finally…
Utilize the intelligence and data you’ve gathered to put in place effective safety protocols that will support and improve your safety efforts. Having all the right tools, effective emergency alert systems or outdoor warning sirens will be of no use if at the end of it all you have bad intelligence, one cannot protect themselves from the unknown, having reliable intelligence capable of assessing threat is necessary to obtain the best possible outcome when face with a crisis, nothing else will help you face the music.
