Situation

A UK based Oil and Gas company were investing in Nigeria which was a new area of operations for them. To date, the company had operated internationally, but this new venture was their first in Africa. It was decided that the project management team, and department heads that would be supporting the project from Head Office should be briefed on issues that might be encountered.

Response

It was decided that two consultants would develop and deliver a one-day seminar at the company’s Head Office in the UK.  The main aim of the seminar was to make managers and staff aware of the issues and risks of operating in Nigeria and to recommend measures to either mitigate the risk, or if the risk was still there, then prepare plans and processes to manage a response if required. Several external speakers, many of them Nigerian, were invited to present and be members of panels to answer questions.

Result

At the end of the seminar, the client’s project management team were better informed as to what to expect and ensured suitable resources were allocated to preventative measures, training of staff, and preparation of plans and procedures to manage incidents and crises should they arise

Situation

A Mexican based construction company was in talks with a US based international construction company regarding a potential joint venture.  The US company stipulated that the Mexican company must have a crisis management plan in place and teams trained in responding to a crisis.

Response

A consultant was deployed to Mexico City to meet with the client and drew up a program of work to develop a crisis management plan. The program of work started with a crisis management awareness briefing to the board, followed by a series of interviews with senior executives and managers. The consultant then developed a draft plan which was presented to small working group from the client in a half day workshop. The output from the workshop was then incorporated into the draft plan.  The final plan was presented to senior management and once it was agreed, a crisis management workshop was delivered to rehearse team members in their roles, prove the plan, and confirm the system worked.

Result

The client was able to demonstrate to the US company their crisis management capability leading to a successful joint venture on several projects both in Mexico and South America.

Situation

Senior Management of the Nigerian subsidiary of an international telecommunications company were concerned about the potential of political violence becoming a risk for their staff and families and impacting operations. 

Response

A consultant was deployed to the client’s in-country office and worked with a small, multi-disciplinary team assembled by the client.  The consultant facilitated a series of planning meetings following site visits and interviews with managers, and representatives of the families.  The output was incorporated into a draft evacuation plan, which was presented to the client’s in-country management team and reviewed through a desk top exercise.   The plan was finalised with useful feedback from the workshop and accepted by management as for purpose.

Result

There was a steady escalation in violence leading up to the election, however the client was able to maintain the safety, security and most importantly the confidence of staff and families through phased, short-term evacuations, maintaining operations throughout the period with stay behind teams.

Situation

A UK based mining company with operations in Africa engaged with the host nation government for the provision of state security forces to help secure their mining project. The mine was transitioning from the construction phase to operations. Several members of the company’s senior leadership were concerned about the potential for issues with security and human rights.

Response

Blindside deployed two consultants to conduct a human rights and security risk assessment visiting the client’s mine and relevant host nation government ministries. Interviews were conducted with the client’s community team, security department, and in-country senior management. The recommendations were then incorporated into a formal risk assessment report which informed a training package that was delivered to the force assigned by the host nation government.

Result

The client was reassured that they had done as much as could be done to ensure that the potential risks to human rights of a deployed state security force at their site had been minimised.

Situation

A European civil engineering company had quoted a fixed price for a major construction contract in Nepal. Between contract signature and project completion, a Maoist rebellion caused significant delays to construction of the hydroelectric plant and dam. The engineering firm wanted to declare force majeure and claim on insurance.

Response

A Blindside consultant travelled to Nepal to make an objective assessment of the dangers to the project and its personnel. A plan for mitigating the risks (primarily ceasing work during bandhs or strikes called by the Maoists) was developed.

Result

Result-The first visit and two subsequent visits confirmed the original assessment that the work could continue, and the insurance need not pay out.

Situation

A large diamond mining company with several mines and sales offices required a management system to ensure diamond risks and security were managed effectively and efficiently. 

Response

Blindside developed a diamond risk and security management system that provided operating standards across 5 key elements; Leadership, People, Process, Protection and Proof, these covered areas such as process integrity, recruitment, training,  illicit market operations, surveillance and security technology and physical security.

Result

The efficiency of the Diamond recovery and sorting Operations improved significantly with integrated controls and line managers taking more control of risks and security in their areas.  Emphasis on process integrity, measurement and technology allowed significant reduction of the diamond security costs with no increase in risk.

Situation

The CEO of a UK based mining company with operations in West Africa, approached Blindside regarding, in his opinion, a security issue. The issue was impacting the construction of the mine. Local communities were blocking roads and access to construction sites resulting in daily losses of US $ 70,000 a figure that would multiply significantly once production started.

Response

Blindside met the CEO to gather the facts, during the meeting the CEO said he thought the problem could be solved with additional security to stop the blockades and move them on.
Following the meeting and a review of past incidents, Blindside’s assessment was that the protests and blockades were symptoms of number of wider issues that needed to be addressed.A Blindside consultant deployed to the client’s mine site and their in-country office over a period of six days. During that time, through meetings and interviews, it became apparent that the protests and blockades were taking place because the local communities believed they were not being treated correctly. A report with recommendations was presented to the client’s executive committee.

Result

A significant reduction in lost time and so financial impact through identifying the issues and improving cross-functional collaboration between the Community Relations Team, the Human Resources Department, the Security Department, the Project Delivery Team and sub-constructors. Ultimately allowed the construction phase to be completed on time and on budget.

Situation

The CEO of a UK based mining company with ruby mine in Mozambique contacted Blindside when the mine was overrun in a matter of weeks by 15,000 alluvial miners and illicit dealers. The presence of that many alluvial miners undermined the company’s embryonic community programme, their communications and government relations strategy, and raised a number of issues as to how the company should respond without damaging their adherence to human rights.

Response

Blindside deployed a consultant and conducted a rapid assessment of the situation and delivered a report warning of practices by contracted security that would endanger the company’s reputation. The report contained recommendations to avoid these risks through engaging with the alluvial miners and police and improving communications of the law. Blindside also identified the high risk of insider theft and collusion in the sorting facility due to inadequate process controls.Blindside recommended a standardised work flow involving the sorters, stock accountants, and security.

Result

At a subsequent gathering of about 2,000 alluvial miners, the company informed them of the law and the alluvial miners were given a period of 24 hours to disperse with the vast majority doing peacefully and without the high tensions evident in previous incidents.

Situation

A major, international power and utilities provider based in the UK had responded to the kidnapping of one of their sales’ team in Mexico. Following the release of the employee, the client wanted to ensure that the victim, the victim’s family, and other staff impacted by the incident were looked after. In addition, the client wanted an assessment on why the kidnapping took place and what could be done to better protect staff to minimise the risk of another kidnapping taking place.

Response

A consultant was assigned to the client and over a few days, the consultant debriefed the victim andthe victim’s family, the client’s Incident Management Team and Corporate Crisis Management Team. Information gathered during the interviews was presented to the client in a report with an assessment and recommendations on how best to support the victim and victim’s
family going forwards, any counselling required by the victim, their family, and other staff members impacted. In addition, recommendations were made on preventative measures to minimise the risk of further kidnaps including situational awareness briefings for staff, safe travel protocols, and intelligence/information gathering and analysis at the local level.

Result

Feedback from staff regarding the way the client had responded to the incident, and more importantly, how they had conducted thepost-release recovery phase was very positive. In addition, training of staff in Mexico was well received and to date, the client has had no staff safety or security incidents since.