Risk management leader sees the Coronavirus crisis as a unique test of resilience

One of Australia’s leading industry risk management experts sees that, while appearing to present few opportunities, the Coronavirus crisis “does allow us to consider all the activities we’ve been too busy to get to” and that “this pending shutdown period could be the perfect opportunity to update Enterprise Risk Management and Resilience Plans.

Wayne Middleton, Principal of Australian-based consultancy, Reliance Risk and the current Chair of the Venue Management Association’s Venue Management School has been a risk management instructor at the School for over a decade.

With 30 years’ experience in operating and consulting to public venue and events, and having delivered projects across Australia, New Zealand, North America, South East Asia and the Middle East, he explains in an online feature at the newly launched Asian Leisure Business “as venues and events internationally come to terms with the impact of the COVID-19 virus shutdown, it’s a difficult to see many positives out of all this uncertainty.

“Mandatory closures of small outdoor and indoor mass gatherings, compulsory self-isolation for overseas travellers, as well as social distancing; these are becoming the new norm in the workplace vernacular - at least in the short term.

“At this point you are hopefully dragging out your well-rehearsed Business Continuity Management Plan and putting into place the contingency plans you have trained for. But if you haven’t tested them for some time, or worse still - you don’t have a BCM Plan, now is a very good opportunity to document these processes while implementing home-based work.

“‘Denial of Access', or being unable to work from your office, is one of the most common scenarios that require a continuity response in business. Whether it’s an act of terror, a power failure, a failed sewer main in a neighbouring building, a motor vehicle accident on an arterial road nearby, or the Coronavirus; denial of access should be the starting point for disruption scenarios in your BCM Plan.”

Click here to read the full article in Australasian Leisure Management’s newly launched companion publication, Asian Leisure Business.