Sample created for this portfolio. Nordhaven Machinery Oy and the events below are fictional.
Scenario
Tuesday, 06:40. A fire starts in the paint shop at Nordhaven’s Tampere plant. All 120 people on site are evacuated and no one is hurt. Rescue services control the fire by 07:30. Smoke is visible across the area, and posts claiming “toxic smoke” spread on local social media. Production stops for an estimated two days.
1. Protocol
Level 1 · MonitorInternal issue, no outside visibility. Communications watches channels.
Level 2 · RespondVisible to customers or the public. Comms lead and site director; statement within 2 hours.
Level 3 · ActivateSafety, environment or media. Crisis team with CEO, HSE and legal; statement within 1 hour.
This incident is Level 3. The site director declares it. The CEO approves messages, with legal review. The Head of Communications is spokesperson; the CEO speaks on camera if needed.
Stakeholder priority| Who | Channel | Within |
|---|
| Employees on site | Public address, SMS | 15 minutes |
| All employees | Intranet, email, shift leaders | 1 hour |
| Neighbours and public | Website, social media | 1 hour |
| Media | Holding statement, then updates | 1 hour, then every 4 hours |
| Customers with open orders | Account managers, email | 4 hours |
| Authorities and insurers | Direct contact, led by legal | As required |
2. Holding statement
At 06:40 today, a fire started in the paint shop at our Tampere plant. All 120 people on site were evacuated safely and no one was injured.
Rescue services brought the fire under control at 07:30. We are working with them to find the cause and check any effect on the surrounding area. Residents should follow rescue services’ guidance.
We will share our next update by 12:00 today on nordhaven.example/news.
Acknowledge, act, commit. No guesses about the cause, and no apology for facts we don’t yet have.
3. Staff talking points
- Everyone is safe.
- The fire is out and the cause is under investigation.
- Plant 2 is paused while we check safety.
- Customers are being contacted directly.
Do not speculate on: cause, chemicals, cost, restart date, blame.
Route questions: media to Communications; customers to Sales; safety to HSE.
Staff Q&A
- Do I come in tomorrow? Your shift leader will text you by 15:00 today.
- Is the smoke dangerous? Follow rescue services’ guidance; we share it as soon as it changes.
- A journalist called me. Thank them and pass the call to Communications.
- What do I tell customers? Use the key messages above; Sales will follow up.
4. Social media
Post the holding statement on LinkedIn and the company’s local Facebook page within an hour. Update every 3 to 4 hours until the site is cleared. Reply to residents within an hour on day one.
To a worried resident: We understand the concern. Rescue services are monitoring the air; please follow their advice here: [link]. We’ll post our next update by 12:00.
To a false claim: To clarify: the fire was in the paint shop and has been out since 07:30. Rescue services are checking air quality. Official updates: [link].
Built on the listen, log, verify, respond loop I ran in the Rohingya response (case 3).
