Emergency Response Leadership:

Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire!

Peter N. Lodal

Eastman Chemical Company

Tennessee Operations

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One View of Leadership

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Available Leadership Training

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Leadership on Amazon.com

As of the end of November, there were 75,277 hits on Amazon.com dealing with leadership

There were 672 for Zig Ziglar alone, including 43 on leadership

So, why are you here listening to me?

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E.F. Schumacher

British (German ex-pat) economist (1911-1977)

Wrote one of the 100 most influential books of the 20th century, “Small is Beautiful”.

Makes use of the concept of two types of thinking and problem-solving, as defined by Liam Hudson, a British psychologist.

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E.F. Schumacher

One is called "convergent" thinking, in which the person is good at bringing material from a variety of sources to bear on a problem, in such a way as to produce the "correct" answer.

This kind of thinking is particularly appropriate in science, math and technology.

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E.F. Schumacher

The other is termed "divergent" thinking. Here the student's skill is in broadly creative elaboration of ideas prompted by a stimulus, and is more suited to artistic pursuits and study in the humanities.

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Leadership

Leadership, like raising children, is a divergent problem.

Thus, there is rarely only one “right” answer to any given problem, unlike a majority of science and engineering problems.

As engineers and managers, we are trained to think “convergently.”

As leaders, we have to learn to think “divergently.”

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Management vs. LeadershipWhat is the difference between management and leadership?

The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do.

Many people, by the way, are both. They have management jobs, but they realize that you cannot buy hearts, especially to follow them down a difficult path, and so act as leaders too.

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ManagersManagers have subordinates. Managers have a position of authority vested in them by the company, and their subordinates work for them and largely do as they are told.

Management style is transactional, in that the manager tells the subordinate what to do, and the subordinate does this not because they are a blind robot, but because they have been promised a reward (at minimum their salary) for doing so.

Managers are paid to get things done (they are subordinates too), often within tight constraints of time and money. They thus naturally pass on this work focus to their subordinates.

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LeadersLeaders have followers, not subordinates - at least not when they are leading. Many organizational leaders do have subordinates, but only because they are also managers.

But when they want to lead, they have to give up formal authoritarian control, because to lead is to have followers, and following is always a voluntary activity.

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LeadersTelling people what to do does not inspire them to follow you. You have to appeal to them, showing how following them will be to their benefit. They must want to follow you enough to stop what they are doing voluntarily and do what you ask.

This does not mean that leaders do not pay attention to tasks – on the contrary, in fact they are often very achievement-focused.

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LeadersAlthough many leaders have a charismatic style to some extent, this does not require a loud personality.

They are good with people, and quiet styles that give credit to others (and takes blame on themselves) can be very effective at creating the loyalty that great leaders engender.

And, although leaders are good with people, this does not mean they are always friendly with them. What leaders do realize, however, is the importance of enthusing others to work towards their vision.

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The Point to Remember

Engineering is convergent thinking.

Management is convergent thinking.

Leadership is divergent thinking.

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Leadership in Emergency Response

So, what does all of this have to do with leadership during an emergency?

1. Leadership is not solely about being the senior member of management at the time of the crisis.

2. Effective leadership will require a skill set that is larger than the one you learned in engineering school, or skills that are honed performing engineering work.

3. Leadership must be established long before the actual emergency is upon you.

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Milton Friedman on Change

“Only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are already lying around. “

Milton Friedman (1912-2006)

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Before the Burner is Lit (Planning)

• Get to know your emergency responders– Internal—Full time and part time (ERT)

staff– External—Mutual aid and municipal

responders

• Identify credible scenarios– PHA/Hazard Identification Process

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Before the Burner is Lit (Planning)

• Review of past incidents– Yours– Others—”50 Incidents That Define

Process Safety” from CCPS is an excellent resource for incident review information

• Exercises and Drills– “Ride-Along” on non-emergency runs– Joint inspections

• Emergency Preplans

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Tabletop Exercise

• Tabletop exercises are most useful in training personnel on responsibilities, use of available planning materials, and procedures.

• Most commonly done in a conference room setting, allowing free discussion and sharing of ideas and sources of information.

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Tabletop Exercise ExampleEmergency Control Center

Preparedness• Scenario: A major fire at the local power

company’s #1 substation has cut all electric power to your area of town. There is no lighting anywhere in the vicinity of the plant, and no computer servers or wireless networks are available as a result of the outage. No estimate for restoration has been given.

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Tabletop Exercise ExampleQuestions to be answered/discussed during the

exercise:1. Can you access the list of on call personnel and their phone

numbers?  (Consider both weekday on call and weekend call duty for both division personnel and any additional groups you may need to contact)

2. Are your control centers equipped with back-up power and lights, and if so, how long should they last?

3. If there is a back-up power source (e.g., generator), is it checked on a regular basis?

4. Are there adequate flashlights and batteries available?5. How will your people access the plant in the event of a

power outage?  •  

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Functional Drill

• Functional drills test one or more components of an emergency response system in isolation (without involving other elements).

• Most useful for testing communication systems, warning systems, or specific aspects of specialized response (e.g., hazardous materials response).

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Full Scale Exercise

• The most complete, complex , and expensive of exercises. All elements of the organization participate, including outside responders.

• Requires a great deal of coordination and planning.

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Before the Burner is Lit (Planning)Eisenhower on Planning

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. “

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)

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Emergency Preplans• Emergency preplans provide on-site

emergency responders critical information during the first 15-30 minutes of an emergency. They are also excellent documents for training and tabletop exercises.

• Emergency preplans may be generated for:1. All high-hazard chemicals on a site above certain threshold

quantities (e.g., RMP chemicals)2. Other high-hazard chemicals present but below threshold

quantities3. Other chemicals, per mutual agreement between operations

and emergency response personnel (e.g, those with unique properties)

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Key Preplan Elements

• Location– Building or plant number– Physical location on site (GPS coordinates, etc.)– Process identification– Building contact (typically the control room)– Building Floor Plan, if applicable

• Map of Critical Emergency Response Items– Firewater connections– Locations and destinations for drains

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Key Preplan Elements• Chemical Hazards– Table of chemicals specific to the area– Properties of chemicals, noting anything

unusual or non-obvious• Evacuation / Traffic Control Issues• Worst Case Scenario and More Probable

Incidents• Critical Equipment, with location in the facility

marked on map• Example Preplan

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As Things Heat Up (Preparedness)

• Resource Assessment– People• Who is available• Who is on-call• Where to go if additional help is needed

– Equipment– Physical Facilities• Temporary Havens• Evacuation Routes• Communications equipment

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As Things Heat Up (Preparedness)

• Review of Emergency Information– Emergency Preplans– Modeling results (if applicable)– Go Team/For Hire Contractor availability (if

incident is in a remote location)– Review the IC system, and identify key players

Into the Fire(Response)

The Federal Incident Command System

Eastman ICS

Into the Fire(Response)

• The Incident Command (IC) System– Know who the Incident Commander is• IC is NOT necessarily the highest ranking

person at the site• Can become a tug-of-war between law

enforcement and emergency response when external responders are used• If off-site responders are used, you MAY lose

control of your site

Into the Fire(Response)

• This is the point where leadership becomes critical:– Know your role within the IC system—

you probably will not be the one “in charge”, but you can play a vital role in the successful execution of the response IF your leadership qualities are recognized, accepted and properly exercised.

Into the Fire(Response)

• Oftentimes, the role of technical personnel in emergency response fall into the logistical and/or communications sectors– The IC will know far more than you about

tactical response to the emergency–What the IC needs is help with things he

either doesn’t have the expertise to do, or simply doesn’t have time to do

Into the Fire(Response)

– You will need to do things like:• Keep senior management’s “hands off the

hose”• Acquire additional resources

– Contractors– Cranes

• Completely unexpected, “off-the-wall” tasks:– Order Dog Food– Marshal the Boy Scouts– Land Balloons

The Great Balloon RaceJuly 26, 2003

July 26, 2003 Balloon Landings

Radio Transmission:

“Mr. Potato Head is Down!”

Into the Fire(Response)

“One way of looking at this might be that for 42 years, I've been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience: education and training. And on January 15, 2009 the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal." 

Chesley Sullenberger(Purdue Boilermaker!)

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Cooling Down (Recovery)

• Incident Critique– Do as soon as practical, with emergency responders

fully engaged• Incident Investigation– Provide support, documentation and relevant

evidence to lead investigators– Coordinate with other key areas

• Legal• Public Affairs/External Communications• Other Employees/Internal Communications

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Cooling Down (Recovery)

• Cleanup– Site security, especially if transitioning from

external IC structure– Preservation of physical evidence• Internal• External (regulatory agencies)

– Determination of minimum criteria for return-to-service.

– Planning for change

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Final Thoughts

“It is worth discussing radical changes, not in the expectation that they will be adopted promptly but for two other reasons:

One is to construct an ideal goal, so that incremental changes can be judged by whether they move the institutional structure toward or away from that ideal.

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Final Thoughts

“The other reason is very different. It is so that if a crisis requiring or facilitating radical change does arise, alternatives will be available that have been carefully developed and fully explored.”

Milton Friedman (1912 - 2006)

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Additional Resources

• Guidelines for Technical Planning for On-Site Emergencies” CCPS (1995)

• Federal Incident Command (IC) System– http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/

• “Small is Beautiful” E.F. Schumacher (1973)• “The 50 Incidents that Define Process Safety”

CCPS (2008)

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Thank you for your attention, and the opportunity to present