Crisis "mastery"

When you look for the place occupied by crisis management in the organization charts or documents produced by the main organizations in charge of it (companies, government departments or other training centers), you will find it dealt with in the risk management departments. However... this proximity is not obvious.

After a brief overview of the state of the art in this field, and an enumeration of some of the constants that characterize these crises (including the choice to deal with serious post-accident crises), I will propose a representation of the types of problems they generate. Indeed, I like to say that they demand to be :

• faced head-on;

• regulated by action decisions taken through continuous monitoring;

• The company's products and services are constantly evolving, both on the spot, through partial anticipations that are frequently renewed and shared, and at a distance, through the lessons we learn from them.

I will then outline the organization that exists in the background, in terms of principles, laws and the players who are responsible or will be responsible for the response, not forgetting the communication needs that accompany these crisis organizations.

I'll also touch on more specific problems, such as the "disabling" reactions identified in the course of studies I've carried out, as well as the serious problem of training for effectiveness in unstructured situations, with "obliged" partners; where modeling, simulations and feedback take on their full importance.

I'd like to conclude with a few thoughts on psychological support for those involved, and the intervention of the justice system.