Developing a Crisis Management Exercise Training in Industrial Environment: From Needs Analysis to Exercise Facilitation

Abstract

Crisis and emergency management in hazardous industries rely on a particular organization which modifies the companies’ normal operating mode. This kind of organization requires, from both operatives and decision-makers, specific knowledge that cannot be acquired through theoretical course or real-life practice only. Simulation exercises can be a training solution to allow the practice of crisis management. Besides, developing and implementing such exercises, adapted for agents and their needs, is time and resource consuming, especially when the system where they operate is complex. There is a need to simplify the development and exploitation of these simulations to make them more affordable. A solution is to develop them according to both rigorous and flexible methodology allowing cost-effectiveness.Between the ends of 2015 and 2017, the Expert’Crise project, an European funded training project on emergency and crisis management in industrial environment, organized seven crisis exercises mainly in hazardous chemical companies, classified as “SEVESO”. This recurrent exercise development process leads us to build a design methodology based on our own experience with industrial and existing methodology. During exercises proposed to industrial partners, trainees play their own role in their usual working place. Only some emergency functions are simulated and, for instance, physical intervention with firefighter’s tool are rarely set up. Therefore, these exercises can be defined as functional crisis management learning role-playing game. Because some part of the emergency organization are not simulated, arrangements must be made to isolate trainees from real environment and establish exercise framework in which participant can interact with each other and with the facilitation interface.This paper deals with the design methodology used to set up emergency and crisis exercises in industrial environment and its experience feedback.