Business Communications

Anytime that a company has employees that are involved in an accident the company must have a plan in place for how to handle the situation as not only is the success of the company at stake in regards to how it handles the situation but there are also lives at stake. In any situation where a person's life is threatened the company must make every possible attempt to protect that life as people are working for an organization and would like to believe they are working for an organization that puts their safety first. Having a plan prepared ahead of time will allow the communications that are made with employees and families to have been made in a time when the employees were not under duress from such a difficult situation. Preparing such tedious documents in a time when the company is in crisis is not the best approach to handle the situation.

The two different audiences that must be informed both have very different viewpoints of the incident. While the existing workers are certainly concerned about their coworker they are also concerned about their jobs as a large safety violation could cause people to leave the company and for other customers to leave if they feel the company isn't making safety a priority. As such each audience expects to receive something different from the communication. The employees will want to know that their jobs are secure and that the company is working to provide a safe work environment. The families of those trapped will care about only one thing and that is their loved ones who may have been involved in the accident. A carefully designed communication plan will allow for the company to ensure that the process has been created in an effort to provide great communication to the families and protect the interest of the employees.

The potential needs of the family in regards to the miners that were trapped would be to know as much information as possible about what happened such that they can digest the information. The families will not want to hear about the incident on TV before the families have been notified as that would be devastating to the families in making them feel like their loved one wasn't valued enough for them to warrant a communication from the company. While not every detail could likely be shared with every individual a summary of the incident should be provided to the families along with details about their loved ones and any communication that has taken place with them. Ensuring that a line of communication is available is crucial to the situation. While I don't believe a personal visit from someone is warranted based on the fact that they are initially trapped I do believe that someone from the company should contact the families via phone immediately to ensure them that they are working to ensure the safety and safe rescue of the employees. Once they have been notified they will also want updates as to the progress of the situation. Should

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