CORPORATE AFFAIRS, COMMUNICATION & PUBLIC RELATIONS IN DISASTER TIMES – A CASE ANLAYSIS OF THE BENTO RODRIGUES DAM INCIDENT OF NOVEMBER 2015
Introduction
On the 5th of November, 2015, the Bento Rodrigues Dam broke its bounds and flooded major settlements in Minas Gerais, in south east Brazil. The immediate result was due to an accidental leakage in the Bento Rodrigues Dam which caused the release of a large volume of toxic materials into the nearby Santarem River valley which flowed into the Doce River. The Dam is owned by Samarco which is owned jointly by Vale and British-Australian mining giant, BHP Billiton.
The purpose of this research is to identify the major business and corporate communication issues that occurred in the Bento Rodrigues dam disaster. The paper will critique the incident, pointers of business and ethical concerns and an analysis of the way the company handled these issues. This will apply various theories and concepts in business and corporate affairs to it in order to draw a series of recommendations about the issue.
Description of the Incident
The Bento Rodrigues dam incident had a number of events and incidents that led to the processes which caused the disaster. First of all, Samarco had a poor planning processes for disasters. This lack of a disaster management plan meant there was no evacuation route for nearby communities, except for one road, a lack of recovery and support plans and poor forecasting. These are events that a mining company at the level of a BHP Billiton subsidiary should have been able to foresee and plan to deal with.
Secondly, there was a poor communication plan for internal coordination and external action in times of disaster. This would have been part of a broader disaster management process and system. However, Samarco failed to put that in place. Due to that, different units worked independently and failed to do anything meaningful to deal with issues and problems that could come up. And when there was anxiety, the management failed to communicate with members of the public to explain the situation and only allowed the media to take pictures and interpret it as they wished to the public.
Thirdly, the mining company placed their hopes on restoring the fractured dam without thinking of other possibilities. This is because at the onset of the incident, they believed they could just find a way to fix the dam and prevent it from exploding and causing havoc. Therefore, it appears they sought to use some kind of a diplomatic approach to avoid spreading panic. However, in spite of this, the lack of communication meant that they failed to notify stakeholders early. Understandably, if the dam was fixed and the issue was contained, there would be no need to cause inconvenience for the residents in nearby communities.
However, the main point was that there was a late evacuation of nearby communities. Since there were no plans for an alternative relocation of the people, the evacuation was late and could only be considered when the mine was breached and the mudslide was flowing. This caused the initial death of people and made it imperative for the community to use other methods. This came too late and had already cost the 17 lives that were at risk. Therefore, there was a major problem with the entire process and people became endangered and the broader context and situation caused the movement of toxic iron waste from the mine to the Atlantic Ocean.
The late evacuation and lack of transport options made life extremely uncomfortable for people affected by the disaster. In line with this, prosecutors have filed a $55 billion lawsuit against Samarco for negligence. This is because the disaster was inherent in the business operations of the mine and the managers should have foreseen it and taken reasonable steps to deal with it. Clearly, they failed to do that and had no sensitivity to the community within which they were operating.
Communication would have been a major tool for the protection of lives and property. Interaction with the community formulation of a plan for disaster recovery. Coordination and discussions during the onset of the disaster and many other things could have averted the situation and provided an appropriate framework for providing and much better solution to the situation.
The main problems that led to the Bento Rodrigues Dam disaster are the lack of risk management systems poor communication processes. Ideally, a mining company with a potentially destructive impact on the environment must have a risk management plan. The risk management plan must determine the realities of the environment and assess the risks in the most realistic way and form. This should lead to the presentation of a recovery plan and a system of interaction and coordination in event of a major disaster or situation. This is a duty that is entrusted to the directors of the company.
An event oriented communication must be formulated and applied during disasters. These are communication processes that are to be carried out. There must be a specific office that must be created in cases of a major disaster risk and this individual must coordinate affairs and give instructions. Usually, a non-executive director becomes in charge and that director becomes a centralised person who takes instructions and gives instructions in these disaster situations.
A company must ensure that communication is done internally, facts are established, proportionate action is taken and then external communication is considered. This is because there must be a system of identifying what are important and dealing with it internally. This requires a responsible person who must be put in charge of these obligations and made to share ideas and information in order to deal with the problems and issues.
That individual who is chosen to lead affairs must also go further to communicate with external stakeholders. In the case of Bento Rodrigues there was no specific individual identified to handle communication. Everyone appeared to be so scared of his or her shadows and people wanted to take instructions from the parent company. However, there was no one to stand up and communicate with stakeholders. There was no clear lines of responsibility and obligations during the disaster. So the media was left to speculate things and draw conclusions of what they were seeing. This led to pressure and stress and had a major toll on the reputation on Samarco.
The Concept mapping by the management is used to identify issues and try to deal with it through communication and nomination of a specific responsible individual. However, this was not heeded. Instead, there was a degree of silence and no one came forward to take responsibility for the company and deal with situations. It was apparent that Samarco was going to be a defunct mining company and the directors were going to be fired.
Furthermore, it was necessary for a company like Samarco to have access to modern communication which provide fast and effective dissemination of information to promote a more responsible solution to the problem. Social media and advanced technological communication tools provide real-time access and transmission of information to and from different parts of the world. And this would have helped to clarify matters and promoted a more responsible means of communication to enhance and enrich the entire groups of stakeholders affected by the different aspects of the mine disaster.
In spite of this, Samarco failed in terms of creating a disaster recovery plan and communication process. Ultimately, numerous environmentalists and the many green groups that had targeted the parent company – BHP Billiton spread a lot of negative information about the Samarco disaster. This cast doubts on the reputation of the company and other related entities and created major problems for their share prices.
The right approach is to go through a four-step approach that could resolve the issue and boost communication and coordination for an issue like the Bento Rodrigues dam incident and they include:
Define an agenda;
Set speech tone;
Distribute information through different communication channels;
Calm fears and deal with emotions
This way, a company could provide a framework for communicating and dealing with relevant stakeholders when there is a disaster. This helps to improve and enhance the relationship with the members of the public and keep them ethical and focused on the needs of different people affected by their operations.
Company’s Resolution of the Issue
There are many issues and problems that have come up to destroy the reputation and different aspects of Samarco. As of today, Samarco’s website spends time righting the wrongs of the Bento Rodrigues dam. This shows that they are moving towards the modification and the compensation of affected persons and groups.
The best way towards resolving such a situation will be to take responsibility for action. This is done by defining responsibility routes and communication channels and obligations that will be handed to directors and managers. These responsible parties will set up various ways for resolving issues and problems and empowered to deal with problems and issues in the best and most appropriate way and manner.
The obligation to take action will mean identifying what must be done and implementing it in tight deadlines to deal with a disaster and its aftermath. This will be done by learning to relax and dealing with the problem and also trying to desensitize affected stakeholders and other interest parties. This can reduce the impact and effects of a given disaster and promote better relations with the community and the wider society.
The right thing to do is to provide information and verify and illustrate actions and processes. This will be about critiquing information that is presented by the leaders. The procedure will highlight what has been so far and what is being done. This will aim at providing assurances and justification for various procedures and actions that are undertaken to deal with a bad situation or avert a disaster.
Noise in communication is a limit to the way things are communicated to various units of a business. Noises come up in times of disaster and as a company fails to communicate, the noise could lead to various implications including people filling in the gaps and drawing conclusions based on what they see. This high level of uncertainty could make it difficult for communication by the authorities to do things. Thus, the right thing in a disaster situation like this is to get someone to communicate with people and this must be done responsibly to ensure that there is the presentation of facts that clarify and reinforce with is being done. This should be calculated to dispel rumours and falsehoods and promote positive acts by the company.
Recommendations
The most appropriate thing that could have been done to avert the impact of the Bento Rodrigues dam was to use a strong risk analysis and assessment system. This would be done by identifying risks of the breach of the dam. This should give a plan for action internally and must be done in a way that will promote a proactive inspection and prevention of breaches of the dam. A risk plan will have to include a plan for the evacuation of communities at risk in a timely manner. This should include a good compensation plan that will help to cover costs of events that come up. Thus, an early warning sign should be part of a risk management plan.
The risk management plan must be complemented with a strong internal and external communication system. This should be done by a professional who is hired and employed with the duty of rising to fill the gap to deal with communication problems. These communication activities must be done by a figurehead who will have centralised authority by gathering information and presenting it in relevant media houses and communities.
Media houses must be modern and proactive. They should take up information and disseminate it officially to all stakeholders and the public in a certain and consistent manner. The information must be laid out in a way that promotes consistent and continuous reinforcement of thoughts and ideas in order to achieve appropriate information.
Communication should be logical and must overcome barriers and noises. This will help to present information in an objective manner. And help to ease emotional sensitivities in the period of a disaster.
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