Crisis Communications Plan Location, date Presenter name, title

Overview Scenarios Roles & Responsibilities Communication Plan Continuity Post-Event

Scenarios

Crisis Communications Scenarios Crisis communications will become necessary in the event of: Severe weather outage. Natural disaster. Prolonged system failure (affecting quarterly filings, provider/business payments/invoicing, benefit payments). Terrorist attack / security threat that could disrupt services. Work stoppage / strike.

Communication Roles & Responsibilities

Communication Roles & Responsibilities Communication Services Communication Services is responsible for all internal and external agency communications. During a crisis or an emergency, Communication roles and responsibilities are divided among three main groups and one secondary group: Assistant Director for Communications’ office. Public Affairs. Web Services. (Secondary level) Office of Information Assistance / Hotline / Web Customer Support.

Communication Roles & Responsibilities Communication Services During a crisis or an emergency, The Assistant Director for Communication Services will provide: Strategic communications leadership. Final decision-making on all messaging. Media spokesperson duties, backed up by head of Public Affairs. Line of succession management (in the event of a major crisis event): Governor’s office. Other agencies. Agency departments. LINE OF SUCCESSION This plan sets forth an order of succession, in coordination with the order set forth by the department to ensure that decision-making authority is uninterrupted during an event. Assistant Director, Communication Services Public Affairs Manager Web Services Manager Hotline/Provider

Communication Roles & Responsibilities Communication Services During a crisis or an emergency, Public Affairs will: Conduct situation and site assessment(s) in coordination with any needed authorities and emergency services. Create/produce/distribute communications to: Governor’s office. Media. General public. Staff. Coordinate agency communications, under the direction of the Assistant Director’s office.

Communication Roles & Responsibilities Communication Services Web Services provide vital communication links between L&I, the public, other agencies and L&I staff. During a crisis or an emergency, Web Services will: Publish announcements, content updates to the Web and intranet, with final edit, go/no-go authority. Receive and route inquiries from public and employees, in coordination with Public Affairs. Maintain all communication channels to ensure optimal open communication among all constituencies: Web site. Intranet. Social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube channel. LISTSERVs. Direct broadcast email messages. To avoid style errors and/or inconsistencies, and also as a final backstop to assure coordinated messaging, Web Services holds final publishing authority.

Communication Roles & Responsibilities Communication Services Office of Information Assistance / Hotline / Web Customer Support teams are available. During a crisis or an emergency, these teams are less critical for immediate crisis communication functions but will be required for ongoing support for events that last more than two days. In general their function will remain to: Respond to public inquiries for their individual stakeholders. To avoid style errors and/or inconsistencies, and also as a final backstop to assure coordinated messaging, Web Services holds final publishing authority.

Communication Plan

Communication Plan Goals and strategy During a crisis or unexpected critical events, agency communications will follow the following goals: Open communication practices, emphasizing: Welfare of affected parties (customers, businesses, providers, employees, general public). Expression of regret/concern for any affected constituencies. Commitment to be accountable and pro-actively search for solutions. Commitment to additional communication/follow-up. Healthy communication environment that offers information exchange, rapid response & additional resources. Protect agency confidential information but not withhold truthful clarifying statements.

Communication Plan Goals and strategy During a crisis or unexpected critical events, agency communications will follow the following goals: Inform Governor’s office, other key agencies of current status. Identify and make known key personnel to respond to inquiries; assure these individuals: Are kept up to date. Coordinate messaging among them. Make clear which agency facilities and/or systems are affected in all communications. Provide valid estimates, when possible, of degree of capacity (50%, 60%, etc.) and when full capacity is expected to be restored.

Communication Plan Goals and strategy During a crisis or unexpected critical events, agency communications will follow the following goals: Commit to making available follow-up report and/or findings post-event. Thank all constituencies, including media, for their cooperation and assistance, emphasizing partnership among all for maximum positive outcomes. Indicate where information is coming from: What office/department. Identify communications center location.

Communication Plan External communication channels During a crisis or unexpected critical events, agency communications will leverage these channels: Public website: Home page messaging. Key page-specific messaging (major points of entry other than homepage). Press releases. Holding statements / scripts for customer service personnel answering phones. LISTSERV announcement(s). Building status phone line.

Communication Plan Internal communication channels During a crisis or unexpected critical events, agency communications will leverage these channels: Intranet home page Banner announcement News stories in L&I News, Tumwater News, others as appropriate. Building status phone line. Conference call(s) with department managers Cascading messages among departments/teams, led by managers and supervisors.

Continuity

Continuity Communication actions During a crisis or unexpected critical events, agency continuity will be maintained. A designated emergency response team will call into a pre-set teleconference line at 5:10 a.m. to have a conversation with the Director. Representatives from the following departments will participate: Facilities, State Patrol, Internal Safety & Health, Public Affairs, Voice & Video, Town Center 3, Field Services, Operations, Administrative Services. During emergent crisis events, the Communications office will update the building status line by 5:30 a.m. with the appropriate information regarding headquarters and any known information about other agency facilities. Employees will call into 800-377-7013 to obtain operational work status.

Post-Event

Post-Event Follow-up communication tasks After a crisis or unexpected critical events, the agency will: Create a report of event and major findings resulting from the event. (Assistant Director of Communications, Communications Project Manager) Distribute / make available the report findings to key constituencies. (Public Affairs, Web Services) Feature outreach activities toward affected stakeholders on public website, possibly in press releases, if warranted.

Thank you State of Washington Department of Labor & Industries www.lni.wa.gov 7273 Linderson Way SW, Tumwater, WA 98501 360-902-5800