European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 4, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine Steven Fink right la president of a Public relations of in California that specializes in crisis management damage control for big business crises bylis Wolfson associated press if it Ain t choke. Don t my  Camo Nia Consul land says Thal s poo business advice at a time when Industrial accidents and  terrorists Vantuin the reputation Tel a billion Dollar corporation without warning More and Mac corporations acknowledging Hal catastrophe May occur arc planning damage control strategies ahead of time says Steven b Fink who makes his living telling businesses How to survive crises. In a 1985 Survey of Iho Fortune 500 companies nine out of 10 said crisis in business is As inevitable As death and taxes says Fink the president of Century City based lexicon communications a Public relations irm that specialises in Cansis management. If Union cab id s carnage in Bhopal India Johnson & Johnson s tylenol poisonings and Trie Ohio band failures have taught the world anything it s Hal a crisis in business can occur with Little 01 no warning anywhere any  he says. Fink Learned his Trade the hard Way As spokesman Lof Pennsylvania gov. Dick Thornburg during the 1979 disaster at the twee mile Island nuclear Plant. Fink 31 at the Lime had been press Secretary just two months when the leak of radioactive Gas occur Rod. His state tourism project swept aside he was thrown into a Cansis management team. From our pors Polive. We handled it very Well in thai we calmed the seats of a panicked Public whereas metropolitan Edison the Plant s pc razors did a i Cable Iob he says. They Odio withholding information and lying to the Public " three mile Island Borovor altered the Way Fink viewed crises i realized they Are indeed solvable and companies Don t have to be victimised he says. Communication is the key. One of the most effective communication devices set up during the three mile Island crisis was a Rumor control hot line Wilh a toll free Telephone number. Fink credit s a similar hot Lina Wilh helping create the relatively smooth Way Johnson & Johnson handled the 19b2 tylenol crisis when capsules were found to be laced with cyanide. In addition to establishing the consumer a formation line the company also recalled shipments of All capsules and mod used Lamper free packaging. In december 19b5. The Fitch floor of whal is now the coast Fede Al building in downtown los Angeles collapsed while under construction killing three workmen within 24 hours the project s general Contr actor. San Francisco based Swinerton & Walburg. Brought Fink in to organize a damage assessment team and Deal with the Media the company came away clean when it was determined thai a subcontractor had overloaded the collapsed icel Bay. Swinerton a so Learned the hard Way. Four years before the company was involved in a similar fiasco in which iwo wot men wore killed. Monday january 4. 19b8 because the company did not practice Good crisis management and did no talk to the Media. Fink says they were heavily lined by the slate. They had the Book thrown at  he says including Man Slaughler charges tiled by the county District Alloney s office. Fink s company was called in to investigate. Four years later fault was again levied elsewhere and Alf charges and fines were dropped or reversed the Point is. By talking openly Wilh the Media and responding is fit charges the company came out a lot better a to quicker the second Limo  Fink says. Still that Wall undertaken after the tact. Fink believes the Best crisis management lies in planning ahead not just reacting effectively it s being prepared for the  one client a major food manufacturer saw what happened to Johnson & Johnson Gerber foods when More than 250 cases of Glass shards in baby food jars were reported in a two month period in 1996and Jalisco Brand mexican style soft cheese. In the late Spring of 1985. More than 30 deaths occurred in Southern California after victims ate cheese contaminated Wilh its Luria Monocyte genes bacteria. According to Fink a grossly insensitive crisis management plan was put into place. A widely publicized Poison Confer hoi line undo the auspices of the los Angeles county medical association was flooded Wilh More than 1.000 Calls in three Days Fink said Bui the hot line was stalled with Only English speaking nurses and the phones were jammed Wilh Calls from concerned confused scared and angry Spanish speaking callers who could nol be helped a tour step plan of action was taken. Fust Fink and his learn including Media specialists and a full time psychologist conducted a crisis awareness seminar Wilh company managers to locale the form s vulnerabilities. A crisis preparedness audit was taken to provide a profile of the company Tolio cd by a Cus Lorn tailored program including emergency plans communication directives who will handle the Media and How  last step involved a simulated crisis to see How the company decision makers Deal under crisis induced stress in his Book crisis management planning Tor the inevitable. Fink says All crises share certain similar aspects. He identifies Toui stages Prodromas or pre crisis stage when Small seemingly insignificant warning signs can signal an impending disaster. Acute crisis stage when a crises has erupted and Only Swift sure management can Minimise the damage to the company. Chronic crisis stage when the carcass gets picked  thai often entails government investigations or newspaper exposes a Long period of explanations and Mea  Resolution Slage when business returns to Normal Al least until the next Cansis. Our strength and competitive Edge lies in teaching companies How to spot the prodrome or warnings fms says one tactic is to Sel up review committees within the company enlisting managers to periodically examine every conceivable warning sign and evaluate them. There Are certain crises that Don t have warning signs like the tylenol tampering but that does t excuse a company from not being  fms says Union Carbide ignored a multitude of warning signals thai developed Well before Poison Gas leaked irom us Bhopal plan in 1984, killing 2,000 people and mating some 200.000 Olheis. Fink says. More than live months Blore the Accident a refrigeration unit designed to Cool the Lone Gas and prevent such a reaction was shut Down a direct violation of Plant procedures additionally a vent Gas scrubber and a Llano lower iwo vital Lail Sale devices for preventing runaway reactions weren t working and instrument panels at the Plant were known to be unreliable according to a Plant supervisor. Ii the company had been Sel up to Deal with the prodrome the crisis never would have  Fink says. The stars and stripes Page 13