Preparedness and planning ahead was an ongoing theme at The World Conference on Disaster Management, according to Canadian Underwriter. This year’s conference, which took place June 7 and 8 at Toronto’s International Centre, included keynotes from Nicholas Haan, chair, Global Grand Challenges, Singularity University about “How Exponential Technology is Changing the Business Case for Preparedness”, and “Is Your Company and Your Community Prepared for an Unanticipated Incident?” from John Bresland, president of Process Safety Risk Assessment LLC. Speakers covered global topics from Ebola to earthquakes, and items closer to home such as workplace violence and family support after tragic events.
In his presentation “Are You Prepared for the Entire Lifecycle of a Crisis?”, Christopher Horne, assistant vice president of CIBC Mellon, spoke about how business continuity and emergency communications are converging, and the need to train employees about emergency management right from the start. “How many of your new employees get some sort of context, Day 1 on business continuity planning, emergency response planning, your communications plan? It starts Day 1 and it needs to expand and develop,” said Horne, according to Canadian Underwriter.
According to show organizers, over 1,500 emergency management professionals from more than 40 countries were expected to attend this year’s conference.
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