STATES OF EMERGENCY - Patrick Lagadec

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3. In the thick of thingsThe most revealing approach to investigating the world of post-accident crisisis to hear the story from the point of view of major decision-makers whowere directly involved. This is why we turned to the individuals who foundthemselves in the eye of the storm during crises that were especiallychallenging, or at least highly instructive.The cases examined here cover a wide range of situations. Some areterrifying catastrophes (like Bhopal) and large-scale incidents (the AmocoCadiz oil spill; massive population evacuation in Mississauga, Canada; Rhinepollution from Basel, Switzerland). Others involve serious accidentsprovoking widespread disorder (Three Mile Island; the worldwide groundingof DC-10s in 1979). Still others were more circumscribed industrial accidents(the Edouard-Herriot Port fire in Lyons, France) or incidents and events thattriggered crises - or narrowly failed to do so (the disappearance of wastedrums from Seveso, Italy; the PCB transformer trouble in Villeurbanne,France in 1986; coinciding technical incidents on the French electricitydistribution network and in a nuclear power plant on the same day, January12, 1987).In developing this study, we began by presenting the project to the selecteddecision-makers, emphasizing its very specific goals. What we wanted wastheir own experience, replete with examples and even anecdotes. In suchcircumstances, apparently insignificant details can take on tremendousimportance, and it seemed fundamental to ground this exploration in aconstant reference to actual facts. An attempt was also made throughout theseinterviews to extract ideas that would be useful to other decision-makers whomight one day be faced with similar problems, as well as to provide food forthought to those with a more general desire to understand this field better.In practical terms, we met with the individuals who accepted the invitationfor interviews lasting from forty-five minutes to two hours. Working froman integral transcript of these meetings, we drafted a text providing a clearand concise presentation of the discussion emerging from each interview. Theinterviewees were then asked to look over the document and make anychanges they thought necessary. Sometimes only a few words were corrected,but in other cases, rereading the article was a springboard to numerous new
44 Technological crises and the actors involvedideas. As a result, some contributions were enriched through one or moresuccessive drafts.The interview questionnaire was as basic as possible:- How were you drawn into this crisis ?- What were the most difficult moments ?- What lessons did you learn ?- What general guidelines would you suggest for managing post-accidentsituations ?Once again, the goal was not to push these figures into contradictingthemselves, but rather to work with them in order to learn as much aspossible from their experiences.To discuss the events referred to above, the following individuals (referredto by the positions they occupied at the time of the events in question)graciously agreed to share their experiences with us:1. Marc Becam, France's Secretary of State for Local Government:Amoco Cadiz oil spill.2. Richard Thornburgh, Governor of Pennsylvania (USA): Three MileIsland.3. Douglas K. Burrows, Chief of the Peel Regional Police Force (Ontario,Canada): the Mississauga evacuation.4. Péter-J. Hargitay, Chairman of Hargitay & Partners AG, Zollikon-Zurich, Switzerland: Bhopal chemical disaster.5. Edgar Fasel, Deputy Director in charge of External Relations andEconomic Issues, Sandoz SA, Basel, Switzerland: Rhine pollution froma warehouse fire.6. Philippe Vesseron, Technical Advisor to France's Minister ofEnvironment (under Michel Crépeau, then Huguette Bouchardeau): thedisappearance of the Seveso waste drums.7. Bernard Favez, Deputy General Director of Electricité de France: EDFincidents on January 12, 1987.8. Claude Frantzen, Associate Director in charge of Technical Supervision,and Laurent du Boullay, Head of the Certification Office, French CivilAviation Authority, Ministry of Transportation: the DC-10 crisis.9. Gilbert Carrère, Prefect of the Rhône-Alpes Region, Prefect of theRhône district of France: the Villeurbanne PCB transformer fire andthe Port Edouard-Herriot fire.Now let us follow these decision-makers into the turbulent world of crisisappearing in the aftermath of a technical failure.
Page 1 and 2: STATES OF EMERGENCYTechnological Fa
Page 3 and 4: viiiContents- Edgar Fasel..........
Page 5 and 6: IntroductionIn recent years, a whol
Page 7 and 8: Introduction 3And what goes for maj
Page 9 and 10: Introduction 5It is not hard to mea
Page 11 and 12: Introduction 7Look for example at t
Page 13 and 14: PART ONETechnical Breakdown,Crisis
Page 15 and 16: 12 Technical breakdown, crisis and
Page 38 and 39: Organizations with their backs to t
Page 46 and 47: MARC BECAMThe oil spill from the
Page 48 and 49: M. Becam: The "Amoco Cadiz" 47Trava
Page 50 and 51: M. Becam: The "Amoco Cadiz" 49quest
Page 52 and 53: M. Becam: The "Amoco Cadiz" 51M. BE
Page 54 and 55: M. Becam: The "Amoco Cadiz" 53way:
Page 56 and 57: RICHARD THORNBURGHThree Mile Island
Page 58 and 59: R. Thornburgh: Three Mile Island 57
Page 68 and 69: D.K Burrows: Mississauga 67We chose
Page 70 and 71: D .K Burrows: Mississauga 69look af
Page 72 and 73: D.K Burrows: Mississauga 71D.K. BUR
Page 74 and 75: D.K Burrows: Mississauga 73P.L.: No
Page 76 and 77: 76 Technological crises and the act
Page 84 and 85: EDGAR FASELSchweizerhalleand the po
Page 90 and 91: PHILIPPE VESSERONThe case of the Se
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94 Technological crises and the act
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100 Technological crises and the ac
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Technological crises and the actors
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Technological crises and the actors
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LUCIEN ABENHAIMUncertainty, the exp
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PIERRE BOBE AND JACQUES FOURNIERIn
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ROBERT L. DILENSCHNEIDEREthics and
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FRANÇOIS AILLERETAn attitude of op
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LAURENT FABIUSOur societies: ill-pr
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214Technological crises and the act
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ENRICO QUARANTELLIThirty years of c
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PART THREELandmarks for ActionQuest
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236 Landmarks for action. Questions
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6. Perspectives: the debate is open
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276 Conclusionsituations of excepti
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ReferencesIntroduction1. P. Lagadec
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References 281Chapter 21. Newsweek,
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References 28314. Interview with Lu
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STATES OF EMERGENCY - Patrick Lagadec

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