"Keep it simple" risk management lessons from July 7 London bombings
Transport for London’s emergency plans had been completely rewritten shortly before the July 7 tube bombings, the risk manager responsible for overseeing them told the AIRMIC conference today.
Andy Barr, Network Co-ordination Manager at London Underground, said the changes were a direct response to two serious incidents during the previous year caused by derailments in which their contingency plans were further improved. “It wasn’t that the information was wrong or incomplete,” he said. “They actually went into too much depth. Our procedures were like books, and they were difficult to follow,” he told a workshop.
The new plans followed the same principles, but were expressed differently. They were shorter, less prescriptive and presented in diagrammatic form. They provided less detailed information, giving TfL staff and others more scope to decide how best to achieve the key objectives of protecting life and maintaining continuity.
“I’m in favour of having outline plans only,” he said. “It’s obviously vital to have a plan that everyone follows. We provide the framework and give individuals more scope to make a difference within that framework.”
TfL were widely praised for their response to the July 7 bombings. Their staff were first on the scene, looking after passengers until the emergency services arrived. The speed with which tube services resumed, the fact that on the day after the event 80% of the normal underground trains were running and the level of communication with the public also drew favourable comment.
Mr Barr is the first to acknowledge, however, that they have learnt lessons from the attacks and have further refined their contingency plans accordingly. Although he is understandably reluctant to go into detail, many of these refinements relate to interaction with the police, ambulance and fire brigade and how they handle the logistics of multi-site emergencies.
For further information, contact Mark Baylis on 07775 693994, markbaylis@aol.com
Note to editors: AIRMIC (The Association of Insurance and Risk Managers) represents risk managers in the UK, including 80% of FTSE 100 companies. Their annual conference in Bournemouth runs from June 13-14, www.airmic.com