ABSTRACT
It is difficult to be precise on what constitutes a disaster or crisis. The definition depends on the perspective taken. All disasters overwhelm the resources of the person, organisation or group to cope. Therefore, to the individual concerned the death of a partner or a child in a car crash would be no less disastrous than the death of 20 people on a train or 400 on an aircraft. Organisations need to plan to deal with a wide range of crises — for example, the death of a manager from a heart attack or a disaster caused by a major fire killing and injuring a number of employees. Traditionally, organisations have not been good at addressing ‘people issues’ in their business continuity plans and employees are often given scant attention by business continuity managers who are more comfortable dealing with computers and floods than with people. The Health and Safety Executive guidelines on undertaking risk assessments provide a template for identifying the risks to employees and can be used by organisations wishing to develop trauma care plans.
