What do we learn from disasters

What have we learnt in the last one year since the Tianjin disaster where more than a hundred lives were lost? This was the focus of my speech at the IAEM conference on Emergency Management & Business contingency organised by IQPC.

There were many interesting speakers across early warning systems, emergency response, Strategic resilience planning and others. My focus as usual was on what I feel passionate about – People.

The Tiajin case is a good lesson in how sometimes what one thinks as an obvious solution to a problem may not end up being the right one. When there is a fire, what’s the solution? Water? – in this case that was the wrong answer.

Experts who have tried to piece together what happened in Tiajin suspect that the blast was caused by calcium carbide stored in the container which reacted explosively to water when the fire services rushed to put out the fire.

There were many things across the entire system that could have possibly prevented this disaster (one could argue the same with so many other disasters as well), across processes, procedures and so forth. However one undeniable issue to address is – awareness.

People awareness of how the dots connect and what the consequences of an action can be.

I saw a recent report from a shipping company where a newly introduced software detection system identified more than 60% increase or 4000 cases in incorrect reporting. How many hazardous material get reported as 'farm products' or even 'cosmetics'?

So how do we ensure we learn the right lessons and create better awareness? How do we connect the dots better?

There could be many different answers to this.

At our end, we are conducting open seminars in Dubai to create better awareness of how to deal with Hazardous material, we also conduct client specific programs and generic programs to help prepare people in dealing with hazardous cargo across maritime, logistics, Terminal and oil & gas industry.

If you are interested in being part of an ‘open house’ program in Dubai, please reach out to us.