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CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS MANAGEMENT During disasters, employees sometime become dysfunctional. They are worried about families, have thoughts of inadequacy, or react to seeing an injured co-worker. On a typical workday, under normal work conditions, a company will have approximately 10 - 20% of its labor force under enough work related stress to result in decreased performance, safety hazards, or poor work habits. After a crisis, performance is decreased from 30 - 75% for a period of time. 6 to 12 weeks is considered average. However, individual needs may increase or decrease the time required. Two important steps can be taken to minimize this problem. Preparation Knowing what to expect in a crisis, understanding the normal response to a crisis, and understanding the steps to recovery decreases the downtime and increases the probability of a positive and shorter recovery. Debriefing Debriefing the employee population and the Emergency Response Teams shortly after the critical incident will bring closure to the crisis. The memories of the event may last, but the impact is significantly reduced with an appropriate debriefing that includes large group meetings, small group support programs, and individual counseling for those who require it. These programs will get your workforce back to work quickly. And...your employees will be grateful. About the author: |