RiskUKSeptember2017

Crisis Management: Leadership in Product Recall Events
During times of stress, a plan to turn
towards is a comfort. The assumption is
that the plan is created with clear heads
and the luxury of informed decision-making
from all relevant parties. The purpose of a
defined product recall plan is to guide action.
However, companies often find their recall plan
to be too general and amounting to little more
than a sample product recall plan that could be
applicable to any business.
There’s no point in having a plan if it’s not
specific and actionable. A safety recall can have
dangerous consequences if not dealt with
swiftly. Ensure that valuable time isn’t wasted
by defining the recall process beyond common
sense headings. Set specific points of action by
product or type of recall. Pre-determine
priorities and timescales and make
accountability of tasks clear. List all external
stakeholders and what they need to be told and
include important external stakeholders in
planning such that they understand their role.
Once the recall procedure is defined, the
comprehensiveness of the plan can then be
tested by training your recall team against it.
Managing risk can be an endless task. Part of
the planning process typically includes an
exploration and documentation of all possible
failures in the design, process, product or
service. A cross-functional team is necessary
for this exploration to be successful.
Risks are live and sneaky. The likelihood and
potential impact of a risk may be set at the
start of the project, but you must keep a live
and dynamic view of risks, their related risks
and the domino effect of changing
circumstances. The people involved in the
original risk assessment are not likely to be the
same as those who will spot the critical change
in circumstance so it’s important to make it
easy for people to report their concerns.
At various points, reassess risks with fresh
eyes and record the risk score against the
original. Remain alert to emerging risk.
Continually think about likely causes of recall
and focus training around high risk aspects of
your operations. Regularly reassess and update
your risk registers and take product recall into
account in change control. Make it easy for
people to report their concerns and use risk
severity and likelihood to prioritise both
mitigation actions and training.
The recall team
Training your product recall team against the
recall plan not only validates its usefulness, but
also helps everyone involved to act decisively
when time is of the essence. A product recall
should be a rare occurrence so staff shouldn’t
Total Recall
We can all agree that exploding or fire-prone mobile phones,
potentially life-threatening vehicle airbags and poisoned or
otherwise contaminated food are best avoided. However, it’s
sometimes the case that products do malfunction. What the
manufacturers involved do about such situations determines
how they’ll be judged by consumers. Does your business
have a product recall team primed for action? If not, there’s
no time to spare. Jennifer Sillars outlines precisely why
be expected to know what to do without
training and support.
A product recall team must be set up prior to
the need for a recall. From the plan you will see
the stakeholders who must be involved, their
priorities, the interdependencies and timelines
for action. If relevant personnel – including
external parties – are aware of what’s expected
of them there will be no crossed wires or
avoidance of responsibility. All parties will be
focused on what’s most important (ie
minimising harm to consumers).
Front line staff dealing with complaints are an
important early warning indicator of problems.
The processes that front line staff work to are
far removed from those around product or
service creation and maintenance. If front line
staff have a good understanding of the product
and the risks for which those closer to the
product are on high alert, they could diagnose
and escalate emerging issues before any real
damage is done.
Regardless of the link between front line and
behind the scenes operations, logging of
Jennifer Sillars:
Product Marketing Executive
at Ideagen
27
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