Emma is a highly regarded specialist in Safety, Health and Environmental law, representing clients across a wide range of sectors in complex investigations, prosecutions and inquests. She defends companies and directors in cases investigated by the Police, HSE, Local Authorities, the Environment Agency, CQC and Trading Standards. Decades of advising organisations through their most difficult moments has given Emma an unparalleled understanding of what goes wrong, why it goes wrong, and critically, how it can be prevented. That knowledge is the foundation of everything she brings to her training events.

Emma is the founder of Bowens Solutions Limited, a health and safety training company built on a simple but powerful belief, that great training changes behaviour, and changed behaviour saves lives. Her Mock Trials and interactive training sessions are consistently praised for being immersive, engaging and impactful. She has a rare gift for making health and safety law accessible without ever diluting the message. Delegates leave not just informed, but genuinely motivated to act differently.

She is also an Assistant Coroner in Northumberland where she investigates deaths that are sudden, unnatural or where the cause of death is unknown.

TOP TIPS

1. People don’t always do what you expect

Even the most reliable and competent team members can freeze, panic or deviate from procedure when faced with a real incident. Human behaviour under pressure is unpredictable. Build your response plan around that reality, not around the assumption that everyone will perform exactly as you would expect them to.

2. Communication – Consistency is Key

In the immediate aftermath of a serious incident, you will need to communicate with multiple people such as employees, the family of the injured person, regulators, the media, suppliers, customers, insurers and your own leadership team. Mixed messages cause confusion, erode trust and can damage your legal position. Identify in advance who will lead communications and ensure there is one clear voice, and one consistent message.

3. Prepare a Crisis Management Plan in advance

Draft a Crisis Management Plan and make sure it is sufficiently detailed to deal with the scenarios that can occur. Consider what could go wrong, who will lead the response, who needs to be involved, the issues that need to be considered, and how this will be communicated. No two incidents are the same, and no plan will ever provide a uniform script that covers every eventuality. A well-drafted plan provides an invaluable structure to guide you through each stage of a response and ensures that the factors that matter most to your organisation are applied consistently, whatever the circumstances.

4. Scenario Testing. Don’t just assume the plan works

Reading a plan is not the same as living it. Run scenario exercises to pressure-test your response, identify any gaps and embed the learning across your team.

5. Arrange Specialist Legal Support

Health and safety lawyers work with organisations to navigate serious incident investigations every single day. They understand the process, the pitfalls and the pressure. Early legal involvement helps you protect privilege, engage with regulators appropriately and avoid the mistakes that are so easily made in those critical first stages following a serious incident.

Written by Emma Bowens

Please note, the views expressed by the original article author are theirs alone and do not necessarily represent those of Washingtondowling Associates Ltd or The SHE Show and therefore we take no responsibility for the content or accuracy of this post.