As we've seen all too often in recent years, terrorist attacks now are aimed at "soft" targets such as concert halls, nightclubs, office buildings and night clubs anywhere people gather for any reason.
Last week, a man drove a large truck through a group of people gathered in Nice, France, to watch fireworks in celebration of Bastille Day.
These attacks remind everyone, especially employers, of the need to develop, maintain, and exercise corporate-level plans for crisis management, emergency response and business continuity.
When your company has such a plan in place, you can better help your employees through the situation and its aftermath.
Here are six issues that employers need to consider, according to Marsh's 2016 Terrorism Risk Insurance Report:
1. Crisis management
Companies should develop and test an overall framework for management, response and recovery.
After an attack, organizations need to move quickly and efficiently to understand the potential effects on people, property and operations, and make policy and strategy decisions to address and manage those effects.
You may have to use several forms of communication to get in touch with everyone you need to reach. (Photo: iStock)
2. Crisis communications
Your company may have to contact employees, customers, investors and others.
During a crisis, messages and communications should be linked to reinforce the overall strategies and decisions made by the crisis management team.
In addition, consider setting up a company Facebook page or group and encouraging all employees to use Facebook's Safety Check as appropriate to let employers, coworkers, family and friends know they're safe.
People are evacuated by Los Angeles Police officers from the UCLA campus near the scene of a fatal shooting at the University of California, Los Angeles, on June 1. (Photo:Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)
3. Emergency response
Responding to physical incidents could involve the following:
- The safety of lives, including employees, customers, vendors or family members.
- Mitigating the effect of the event itself.
- Evacuations of employees and their family members.
- The protection of physical assets, for example, from looters or vandals.
Related: 4 ways to minimize catastrophe risks
4. Humanitarian assistance
Providing support to your employees during and after an incident could include physical, social, emotional and financial help, as needed.
One example of the way companies can support their employees is by making professional counseling and support services readily available.
Related: How to talk with clients in crisis
It's important to know how you'll get your business up and running after a crisis. (Photo: iStock)
5. Business continuity
After you've dealt with the safety issues, your next priority is keeping your business running.
Your company's strategic plan should account for the management and logistics of continuing or resuming operations, as well as recovering partially or completely interrupted critical business functions.
The faster you can get your technology back online after a disaster, the faster you'll get your operations going. (Photo: iStock)
6. Information technology and disaster recovery
In 2016, most business processes are driven by technology to a certain degree. Recovery should include plans to ensure the availability of networks, applications and data.
When you ensure that your technology is up and running efficiently, you'll support business continuity, including working remotely and other strategies.
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