Major incidents: managing the risk

Negotiating the maze of complexities and challenges of building large scale new housing developments, from keeping contractors in line to keeping residents and local authorities informed over the construction phases, means it can really upset the apple cart when a major incident happens on-site.

From drafting major incident protocols, to managing your response in the event of a Traveller incursion or fire on-site, our Communities team can support you. We embed ourselves in your development, building close relationships with local stakeholders and attending site regularly so that we can judge how best to manage and mitigate any communications fall out, if something does go wrong.

Across our sites, we have successfully managed several incidents, managing media coverage and keeping stakeholders informed and updated. The strength of the bonds we build across developments means that when an incident does happen, we are trusted to manage it effectively. We can also build on your local knowledge to write protocols for sites in which we are not operational in a Communities team capacity.

Our Director of Communities was previously a member of the Major Incident team for a London borough, and is ideally placed to lead the whole team through these situations – but she’s not the only one who can help!

Drawing from the diverse backgrounds and experience of our whole team means that we have learning to share and value to add at all stages – from the marketing of a site, to community engagement, partnership working and relationship building, communications, and event management.

So often, the most important thing is to begin communicating with people as soon as possible. Whether that is speaking with partner developers, contractors, residents, or politicians – people expect answers and leaving incidents open to speculation never ends well. Offering people an explanation and a plan of action goes a long way towards winning goodwill whilst the incident is resolved.

Having an emergency plan is so important. When the rain starts to really pour, you need to be confident you have built a boat that will weather the storm – and we can help you build it.

For more information, get in touch via [email protected]