An Exercise Evolving into a Real Emergency Management
During one training session, the client suffered a real cyber-attack on their IT systems. The training was quickly postponed and the OSRL team were asked to assist with the emergency in the incident command post.
The exercise allowed different areas of the business to work together on an incident and familiarise themselves with how each other works, the process and the required lines of communication. It was very successful and resulted in the members of each team solidifying their knowledge and feeling significantly more confident in their emergency management roles and processes.
Background
Consolidation within Maersk Oil meant that the Company’s emergency management and OSPR frameworks were no longer appropriate. Furthermore, staff changes had weakened competence and experience levels.
Some of the Maersk Oil senior leadership had previously worked in the USA and in other major oil companies where pure Incident Command System (ICS) was used. The Maersk Oil Senior Leaders were clear they did not want pure ICS. They wished to instil a system that had scalability to cover the most credible situations faced by the business units, whilst avoiding the training burden of ICS. It was also important to conform to the latest Incident Management System good practice guide.
OSRL solved these issues by building Maersk Oil an Incident Management System that provides the organisation with a simple and efficient framework for managing any incident.
Incident Management System
The OSRL team worked with Maersk Oil to develop an Incident Management System in complete conformance with the good practice guide, fit for the size and complexity of its operations and the outlook of the organisation’s senior leaders.
Maersk Oil also asked OSRL to advise on a suitable way to implement the Incident Management System. Bespoke, scenario- based training from OSRL improved the confidence and competence of individuals both in the corporate centre and in the business units. This in turn provided a high level of assurance to Maersk Oil’s senior leadership that the organisation was equipped to manage any emergency.
Bespoke, Scenario-based Emergency Management Training
Training and exercising is a critical element of any emergency management programme. OSRL developed a bespoke, scenario- based training course for Maersk Oil based on the incident management process below:
The main objectives of the emergency management training course were to:
-
Train the Emergency Support Team (EST) on the emergency management process, roles, responsibilities and communication lines;
-
Identify gaps in Maersk Oil’s supporting procedures that may be required during an incident;
-
Improve emergency leadership skills of all team members;
-
Build individual and group confidence in managing an emergency and
-
Provide an opportunity to practice through realistic simulation exercises.
Each course included 5 hours of scenario based exercises to provide an opportunity to practice and consolidate the participants’ skills. The OSRL Team built multiple, hyper realistic scenarios to run in near real time. These required extensive research and cooperation from Maersk Oil and other stakeholders to ensure the injects were as accurate as possible. The OSRL training team was specifically picked to include expertise in emergency management, leadership skills and training development and delivery. Multiple teams across Maersk Oil’s corporate headquarters and business units were included in the training.
This type of exercise is extremely useful to test our capability and processes. The training has been so successful that people from other departments outside the emergency management team are requesting to be part of the next training.
Integrated Exercise
Following the training an integrated simulation exercise designed by OSRL took place. This involved two levels of the business; corporate headquarters and business units, working together under the same process to manage an incident in real time.
The exercise allowed these different areas of the business to work
together on an incident and familiarise themselves with how each other works, the process and the required lines of communication. It was very successful and resulted in the members of each team solidifying their knowledge and feeling significantly more confident in their emergency management roles and processes.
Maersk Cyber Attack
During one training session, AP Moller- Maersk and its businesses, including Maersk Oil suffered a cyber-attack on their IT systems. The training was quickly postponed and the OSRL team were asked to assist with the emergency in the incident command post. The team then spent the next three days, providing advice to the Command and Operations teams, coaching the organisation in the emergency management process, updating incident objectives and helping to implement actions.
I’ve done hundreds of emergency management scenarios and responded for real many times. The simulations OSRL developed and ran are some of the very best I’ve ever seen – every detail was absolutely right – you got the realism spot on.
Conclusion and Further Support
Maersk Oil received a comprehensive emergency management training program tailored to their specific requirements and had the opportunity to validate the training and framework put in place. A key benefit was the improved confidence and competence of individuals both in the corporate centre and in the business units. This in turn provided a high level of assurance to Maersk Oil’s senior leadership that the organisation is equipped to manage any emergency. This was certainly demonstrated during the Maersk cyber-attack.
OSRL continues to support Maersk Oil (now Total) in several various aspects of emergency preparedness, such as a reviewing Emergency and Incident Management Plans, Oil Spill Contingency Plans and development of a new Tier 1/2 oil spill equipment capability.
Need to test and improve your preparedness and response capability?
Well designed exercises test response capabilities including plans, people, equipment and systems. Develop your exercise and planning programme today or join us in one of our scheduled exercises!
