TRI Energy Tanker Spill Crisis Communications Plan

Cassandra Dawson, Kevin Dontas, Samantha Elliott, Kori Frederick, Delshad Fitter
February 18, 2014

Table of Contents

Situational Analysis

Communications Objectives

Audience Analysis

Strategies

Tactics

Example Tactics

Crisis Guide

Employee Training

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Communications Team

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Final Thoughts

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SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS Many people have heard of the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred in 1989. The terrible thing is that even though the spill that is so well known, it is not included in the Ten Biggest Oil Spills in History according to research done by the magazine Popular Mechanics. There are several observations about this list. First, oil spills have been occurring for over 50 years and they are not restricted to a certain geographic area. They have happened in the waters surrounding Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Alaska, Mexico and South Africa. Second, they can be caused by oil spilling from tankers transporting the substance, wells drilling for the substance or pipelines routing the substance. Finally, they always involve human error or neglect. Oil is a very difficult product to process and transport therefore oil spills have become a common crisis for companies in the industry. Recently TRI Energy, a Calgary-based public oil company, purchased oil refineries in the United States and Venezuela. Due to highly publicized incidents such as the Exxon Valdez tanker spill and BPs spills in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico, there has been an increase in public scrutiny about oil spills. The Exxon-Valdez Tanker Spill, 1989 While this spill has become well known as one of the worst spills of all time, this refers more to the impact than the amount of oil released. The list is based on quantity of oil that spilt; the Exxon-Valdez spill released 11 million gallons, but the environmental impact has been long lasting. The spill was caused when the tanker hit a reef off of the Alaskan coast. After investigation, the cause of crash was determined to be a mixture of human error and negligent maintenance of the ship. This led to a ban on the ship from entering Alaskan waters ever again; the Exxon-Valdez is still in commission and travels through other areas of the sea. Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, 2006 This recent spill occurred when a hole was discovered in the pipeline carrying oil to the Prudhoe Bay oilfield. It leaked an estimated 237,000 gallons of oil into water off of Northern Alaska. Investigators determined the hole was preventable, as previous inspections had noted corrosion on the pipes. BP, the company who owned the pipeline, was found to be negligent after ignoring the red flags and had to pay a penalty in the 20 million dollar range. Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, 2010 This widely publicized oil spill was initiated by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oilrig. It lasted for 87 days and released 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Not only did this spill cause environmental damage, but the explosion took human lives and the cleanup efforts caused occupational health effects for the workers. The company responsible for the rig was once again, BP. The investigation found that the concrete in the rig was cracked and this maintenance issue was a factor in the explosion that released the oil.

Potential Consequences of an Oil Tanker Spill An oil spill impacts the following areas: the environment, quality of living, reputation of the oil industry, company finances and governmental laws. The consequences of an oil spill on the environment last for years, if not decades. The oil kills marine life and animals that depend on the water for food. The oil will work itself into the food chain creating a bio magnification effect. This means the higher up in the food chain you are, the more likely you are to have toxic effects. This means that humans who eat sea food would be affected. Finally, the cleanup efforts themselves can be toxic to the environment because chemicals are released into the water to contain the oil. Just as oil spills affect the environment for decades, the workers who are involved in the cleanup can be affected for years after the incident. The chemicals released into the water can harm the workers. Reports from the Deepwater Horizon cleanup depicts workers showing signs of chemical poisoning thus resulting in a decreased quality of living. The consequences of an oil spill on the company, and the oil industry as a whole, involve publicity and finances. Due to the above mentioned effects on the environment and quality of life, oil spills are viewed as a natural disaster caused by human error. Even though the majority of the public uses a form of oil in their daily lives, news of a spill creates negative feelings toward the industry. Depending on how severe the spill, the company itself can be blamed for the negative impacts of the entire oil industry. It is also important to investigate the financial losses associated with a spill. The company loses a significant amount of its product and then has to put money into dealing with the crisis itself. Lastly, many of these disasters have resulted in legislation being created to ensure better maintenance and safety procedures to prevent future spills. When a huge spill occurs, new laws are created and current laws are modified which can affect the oil companies. As TRI Energy is entering into the American and South American market, the laws surrounding oil transport should be reviewed so that the companys practices are consistent with the countrys laws. The Situation for TRI Energy To ensure positive public opinion, TRI Energy will consider any type of oil spill a crisis. The response efforts will vary depending on the length of time and the amount of oil released. Any spill is attributed to human error and thus the company. All spills should be addressed by communicating to the appropriate audience; however, the extent of crisis management will vary based on level of containment. TRI Energy does not want a similar situation to that of BP to occur; therefore this crisis communication plan has been created. The plan will prepare the employees for the event that TRI Energy needs to deal with a tanker spill at its Canadian, American or South American locations. It focuses on maintaining a positive reputation in the publics eye by communicating through its various established channels and looking at new methods to reach its target

audience. Currently, the company uses the following methods of communications: annual reports available to the public, quarterly earnings reports for financial media outposts and shareholders, a corporate website geared towards investors and existing customers and an intranet systems for internal communications. COMMUNICATIONS OBJECTIVES The plan has been created based on the following objectives: Ensure every employee of the company is aware of the procedures to follow within 24 hours of an oil spill. Establish several methods of effectively communicating updates on the situation to the employees using both traditional and social media. Establish several methods for employee media representatives to use when responding to media inquiries. Choose communication tactics that reach the external public, are informative and timely, and will help maintain the reputation and goodwill of the company. Minimize potential negative consequences to the company by providing factual information and responding to all inquiries, both internal and external, within a day. AUDIENCE ANALYSIS The primary audiences for TRI Energy to consider when developing a communications plan are its investors and customers, environmental groups, employees, and citizens of the local region/ nation(s) affected by the potential oil spill. Investors and customers must be considered because they play a key role in the ability for TRI Energy to maintain production. The communication plan should communicate with investors by maintaining regular information updates regarding the oil spill, the potential damages done, and what TRI Energy is doing to minimize damage to profits and the company's public image. This is will be done in a way that ensures that TRI Energy is keeping on top of the crisis and actively attempting to repair the situation. The customers should be kept informed about delays in shipments and how the spill affects their business. Environmental groups will be one of the biggest groups that threaten TRI Energy in the event of an oil spill because of the environmental damage such an incident is likely to cause. There will certainly be negative press from environmental activists and media sources so it will be important to respond in the best way possible. Statements regarding what the company is doing to minimize the damage to the area should be released. TRI Energy should also determine whether or not they want to work with or support environmental efforts. Employees of TRI Energy will also be important to address during an oil spill because negative attention to the company may create insecurity about job placements, and questions regarding employee safety may surface. Employees will also want to be kept updated regarding the crisis. This should be done in person as much as possible. It is better to communicate directly with

employees rather them hear information from outside sources that may be false and/or create negative feelings towards the company. TRI Energy should also consider the citizens of the local region/ nation(s) affected by the oil spill, where it is be it Canada, the United States, and/or Venezuela. Due to the consequences environmentally that occur during and after an oil spill, the whole nation is likely to be concerned about their environment and economy. Similarly, as with all other audiences, it will be important to communicate frequently with those media outlets in order to keep the best possible image for the company during the crisis and be a first line source for information. STRATEGIES The team comprised of the CEO, the crisis management consultant (CMC), the team leader of the public relations department, the vice president, the senior manager and other management level employees, will select a spokesperson to speak with all target audiences to deliver and apology and updates on the situation. Criteria for the spokesperson is: Comfortable in front of a TV camera and with reporters. Skilled in handling media. Skilled in identifying key points. Able to speak without using jargon. Someone who is sincere, straightforward and believable. Knowledgeable about the organization and the crisis at hand. Able to remain calm in stressful situations. In this case, we can assume the vice president can be given training to deal with the media and escort them, if necessary. Along with this, individuals and employees that are competent must, in the face of a crisis, be able to handle media attention and have a statement prepared that would not in any way, show deflection of the situation. For example, a statement such as: We are still in the midst of gathering more information regarding this, we will be releasing a public statement and have a press conference shortly. This would show transparency and sincerity. Additionally, the following strategies are to be implemented: Ensure all employees receive the media training template and are able to respond to media inquiries while being consistent with the corporate message Distribute the information to internal employees using various methods of communication including question and answer sessions with the crisis team Create a social media platform to reach out specifically to the environmental groups. Utilize the website to maintain confidence in TRI Energy from the investors and

customers. Generate positive publicity for TRI Energy by keeping the employees, public and environmental groups updated on the relief efforts using print, broadcast, and social media. Create an awareness campaign for the companys relief efforts during the crisis and the subsequent donations a month later to both an environmental and an occupational health charity.

TACTICS Acknowledging the severity of the issue and realizing how a company is planning to fix it are extremely important when communicating to customers, media, employees and the public. Using various social networks and broadcasting methods can help get the message disseminated to TRI Energys key publics. The following tactics are organized into four main areas, and one final communication stage, for which communication strategies should be implemented: For Employees At the beginning of the crisis, the company spokesperson will address TRI Energys employees on two separate occasions: First, at a meeting that includes only managers, and secondly, to the group as a whole. The employees are to be informed on the situation before any other audience. The use of the companys intranet and email systems will keep the employees updated on a daily basis. The memos will provide the current information on the situation as well as the appropriate responses to the media. To assist with any questions employees may have, the crisis team will have designated open office hours at which any employee can stop by and receive answers. Traditional sources of knowledge such as employee bulletin boards and newsletters can be used depending on the length of the crisis. For Media and Governing Bodies Using the appropriate spokesperson, the media and other governing bodies will be addressed at a formal occasion. At a specified time and location, all media and governing bodies are invited to address and listen to the spokesperson of TRI Energy. This address will be apologetic, sympathetic, informative and constructive. It will clearly illustrate what happened, why it happened, what TRI Energy is doing to correct the problem and how the company is planning for/preventing future problems. The press conference is to be broadcast in all the countries where TRI Energy has established business. There must be room for schedule change and immediate congregation if the situation changes or worsens. TRI Energy is not limited to one, singular address; the information may have to be provided a number of times depending on the factors and severity of the issue. Media and governing bodies must also be contacted outside of a professional address. In a

similar message, each individual media and governing body (beginning with the most important) must be contacted at another time to insure appropriate information has been divulged. This may be through email, press release, phone call, or other preferred method of communication. For the General Public Where this body is not limited to timeliness, where information is disseminated in a disorderly fashion, and where information (even false) may be spreading at an uncontrollable rate, the best method for communicating with the general public is through social media. In all, public opinion and information transfer it is a bit chaotic. To best manage this chaos is through constant attention and updating of information bits sent through communication devices, in other words, managing social media. In this way, messages can be delivered consistently and at any time to inform the general public and assist their learning/developing process as it otherwise may have been curved. The first issue TRI Energy has with communicating to the general public is that it has no social media implemented. Not every social media outlet must be utilized, but several key broadcasting devices must be recognized to deliver messages and accommodate the upset public in the best possible way. The key media devices that should be utilized are as follows: Bloggers Utilize bloggers as a key, pro-TRI Energy media source by inviting them to news briefings. Finding influential sources online is a huge part of gaining trust and sharing correct information through social media. Not only do these individuals have huge followings but they can act as a conglomerate for confused individuals and deterrent for the ill-informed and/or internet trolls Flickr Communicate with photos displaying the cleanup efforts being executed. Pictures are proof that something is being done; these pictures can also be framed to display the correct/desired information Video Use a live streaming video service to allow the public to watch the cleanup process firsthand. Allow access to this video through TRI Energys already existing website; advertise it and make it easy to access Twitter Keep the public informed with up-to-date information on how the process is going, while also addressing specific public conversation and inquiries directly. Social media is an opportunity to connect to the environmental groups. By showcasing what the company is doing positively for the situation, TRI Energy is reaching out to this target audience. This could lead to a partnership with an environmental charity and a chance to change the effects the spill has caused. If the crisis continues for more than two weeks, the company will donate a significant amount to clean up efforts. This is to be heavily publicized on social media as well as with a press release. For Investors and Customers These individuals are less concerned with cleanup as they are with how they are going to get their product. Communication must take place in order to show what steps are being taken to insure business will continue (if not on schedule then as timely as possible). This message would be similar to an address made to the media and governing bodies but without the

attention of the media and external bodies. In a private room for address and debate, the necessary spokesperson(s) will inform stakeholders and customers of the operations TRI Energy is undertaking to insure business will continue and profit. They will also have access to the companys website. This will provide updates on the situation financially. Like the media and governing bodies, stakeholders and customers must also be contacted outside of a professional address. Each stakeholder/customer (beginning with the most important) must be contacted at another time to insure appropriate information has been divulged. This may be through email, meeting, phone call, or other preferred method of communication. A Last EffortAvoiding Going Stale After all has ended, and most operations/opinions of TRI Energy are back to normal, there must still be an effort made to inform any public who tries to learn about the incident. A singular resource must be dedicated to informing these curious/concerned bodies. Utilizing the web page created and maintained by TRI Energy, a summation of all that was done (from day one to the present), must be available. This page will include most of the information that was contributed in the above sections, answering any questions that may arise in the future, but overall, the page will aim at showing the end of the crisis and plans for a safer future. EXAMPLE TACTICS 1. BPs main website Gulf of Mexico Restoration http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/gulf-of-mexico-restoration/deepwater-horizon-accidentand-response/containing-the-leak.html The page aims at avoiding going stale. It includes what happened, how much oil was spilled and what BP did to correct/clean up the catastrophe. It also provides every piece of information available, including links to media briefings and video footage of the cleanup process (sealing the cap). In all, BPs main website section Gulf of Mexico Restoration is a great example of putting the issue to bed, maintaining respect and public image and answering all further questions and inquires. 2. BPs live video footage of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AadjMspXMAA Shortly after the crisis erupted, BP brought a live feed of the spill to the medias attention. This footage was broadcast over several news stations and was accessible by a wide variety of online sources, including YouTube. What this example shows is BPs quick reaction to the event and an attempt to show actual proof that something was being done to solve the problem. What BP failed to implement was constructive footage. Looking at the video provided by the television news and online sources, there are only blurry images of how much oil is being spilled

into the water. In a way, the footage was damaging to the company because it was not well introduced or implemented. What BP needed to do was set up footage (maybe above the water of how many people were actually helping out) that showed efforts being made to solve the problem. Also, BP needed to restrict or manage which sources were able to show the video footage; where a free-for-all ensued, there needed to be a strategic place and time for the footage to be displayed. CRISIS GUIDE A phone tree in is in place in which the crisis management consultant (CMC) is one of the first people in management to be told about an oil spill. It will start with the people who were on the front line of the oil spill and they will contact management. The CMC will then be informed of it. Everyone else on the crisis management team will subsequently be informed. Each person is responsible for calling one or two other people to make sure that everyone is well educated on the situation. An example the tree can be seen below:

During this crisis, each person will be required to track all communications. That means keeping track of email exchanges, phone calls etc. On top of this, each person on the crisis management team will be required to exchange communications with certain people. This way, if it is delegated to whom each person needs to communicate with, we can be sure that all the people that need to be contacted, are in fact contacted. We will have two people that will handle the media inquiries, the CMC and one of the crisis

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management team members, for the intermediate and informal media communications that will occur during the crisis. Both have media training and will have had multiple planning sessions with the vice-president (who is our designated spokesperson) so that all of our messages coincide with each other. In addition to this, certain people will be in charge of maintaining social media to keep in contact with the public. People will also be in charge of maintaining contact with the employees through the intranet and social media outlets. Following the crisis we will have a debrief meeting with the vice-president and the crisis management team. At this point we will conduct a run through of what happened throughout the whole crisis. This will involve people sharing their thoughts about how everything was handled and how successful they felt all the communication was. After this we will run through our objectives, as they are measurable, and determine if all the objectives were met. If the objectives were met, we need to make sure that we note what we did to ensure that the objectives were met. If they were not met we need to determine if they were not met because of mistakes we made, or if they are not valid or realistic objectives. If we did not meet them then we must find out why they were not met and what we can do in the future to ensure that they are met if this happens again. If the objectives are unrealistic or not valid then we must adjust and improve them. Minutes will be taken throughout the meeting and a report will be generated. Two versions of the report will be published: one for the employees, and one for the investors and customers. EMPLOYEE TRAINING CEO of TRI Energy The CEO will require media training in order to be persuasive and confident in front of the media for any interviews, press conferences, telephone calls, or reporter questions. He or she will need to be briefed on the holding statements to be given immediately after the oil spill, and will need training on how to answer questions to maintain a positive image for the company. Website and Intranet manager(s) Employees responsible for the content on the website and intranet will need to be trained on how TRI energy plans to address the company's stakeholders online and what message TRI Energy would like to be available to the public and employees. They will need to read documents (emails, online responses) to be prepared to create website material as soon as the crisis occurs. They material is situation-based and will be prepared pertaining to a specific incident. These individuals will also need to be trained on effective ways to communicate with the public on social media. As no social media is currently being utilized by TRI Energy they will need to be trained on how to create a live video stream to the website, use Flickr create a Twitter account, make effective tweets, and pre-determine some bloggers to connect with during the

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crisis. Even though TRI Energy does not use social media, it is important to have the trained on how to use it for a crisis because the public will be looking for information and making judgments based on what they see on various social media platforms. Employees All employees should go through a training session during orientation and brief training annually regarding the companys expectations of employees should a crisis occur. This would include what to say to external publics if anyone was to ask them questions and to use discretion when talking with friends and family members. Employees will also need to be briefed on the phone tree and how communication is to proceed through it should a crisis, such as an oil spill, occur. CRISIS COMMUNICATION TEAM The first step would be to address those in the internal public section; first priority would be to inform them of the potential crisis at hand. This message should be sent out to: Employees Customers Investors The next step would be to inform those in the external public. Do this by sending out a news release, answering the medias questions and giving out prepared statements regarding the organizations efforts and plans to recuperate from the crisis. Examples of those in the external public would be: Media Local community where the crisis has occurred Consumers Investors Environmentalists The Crisis Communication Team comprises individuals who may play a critical role in addressing the crisis, including representatives of the following: Media Relations and Communications Emergency Management Human Resources Environmental Health and Safety The Team would authorize the following: Spokesperson Notifying key constituencies- The Crisis Communications Team will determine which

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groups need to be informed first. It is important to keep in mind that releasing official statements are preferred to rumors, word of mouth, etc. (This includes: Employees, Public Officials, General Public, News media.) Fact sheet- As soon as possible after the incident, a fact sheet should be prepared to supplement communication with key constituencies and information provided to reporters by the spokesperson. This should be approved and checked for accuracy by those with a direct knowledge of the crisis. Fact sheets released publicly or posted to the Internet must be updated as information changes. Alerting the media- Will send out contact information on media releases and inform employees to direct all media inquiries to the crisis team.

FINAL THOUGHTS In the probable event that TRI Energy is faced with an oil spill, this crisis communication plan will provide guidelines on how to respond to the situation effectively and efficiently. If anyone has any questions or suggestions, please contact the following individuals: Cassandra Dawson Crisis Management Consultant cdawson@trienergy.com Kevin Dontas Public Relations Manager kdontas@trienergy.com Samantha Elliott Human Resources Manager selliott@trienergy.com Delshad Fitter Vice-President dffitter@trienergy.com Kori Frederick Chief Executive Officer kfrederick@trienergy.com

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