Lesson 3: Risk Communication and Plant Protection

Topic 1: Crisis Communication

In an urgent or dangerous situation, the audience can be motivated to take a particular action by using crisis communication. When urgent action is required, the detection of a new exotic plant pest may initiate a crisis communication campaign. In this topic, we will take a closer look at crisis communication and how it has been applied for communicating phytosanitary risk.

Objectives:

  • Describe and illustrate the purpose of crisis communication
  • Understand how this type of communication can be used in plant protection

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Outbreak Plan Process

In emergencies, such as a new pest introduction or an outbreak, the NPPO might have to act quickly to contain or eradicate a pest. Under these circumstances, the NPPO often must rely upon the actions of others, such as homeowners and private businesses, to ensure the success of an eradication or containment program. The challenges are to communicate the relevant information to the audience and to motivate this audience into taking appropriate actions to reduce or mitigate the risk. It is important to note that there should be a risk management and risk communication plan in place. Both of these should be ready before a crisis occurs in order to ensure the best possible implementation. When developing these plans, the NPPO should consider:

  • Why the communication should take place
  • Who will be targeted for communication
  • What information needs to be communicated
  • How that information should be shared (e.g. mass media, public meetings, brochures, etc.)
  • What actions need to take place, and who is responsible for carrying out these actions.

Crisis communication can take a variety of forms, depending on the severity of the situation, the urgency of required actions, and who is affected by a particular hazard. Mass media, including press releases and web pages, can be used to reach the widest sector of the population very quickly. More targeted campaigns, such as posters, brochures, and leaflets/pamphlets, can be highly informative and can provide the audience with material that they can take with them. The disadvantage is that these materials can take more time to produce and, for time sensitive issues, this might not be practical.

Public meetings or forums can also be a highly effective means of communicating about a crisis situation and have the advantage of giving the audience the opportunity to provide direct feedback or to ask questions to the communicators. The risk communicators can also use this mechanism to make a call for action. The method is useful if the audience is directly involved with reducing or mitigating the risks in question.

Social media is becoming an important method for communicating risk in crisis situations. Social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, have substantial capability to rapidly communicate risk information to a large group of people. It can also provide frequent updates. Furthermore, social media is an inexpensive way to quickly gather information about the public’s perceptions, beliefs and behaviors. This process is even more efficient when  stakeholders are engaged and actively participating. As more people adopt mobile technologies, such as smart phones and tablets, social media will become more important in crisis communication. There are some disadvantages to using social media. One is that successful crisis communication is dependent on government organizations to have a significant presence and following on the social media platform before a crisis situation occurs. This can be difficult and time consuming for organizations to maintain. Additionally, risk communication through social media might only reach a small segment of your stakeholders. Although the adoption of social media is increasing significantly across ages and cultures, not everyone participates. Also, risk messages can be lost in the large volume of information passed via social media or can be distorted as the message is passed along.

Regardless of how the information is communicated, the crisis communication process should involve:

  • Ensuring delivery of relevant information to the appropriate audience
  • Conveying what actions might be required of whom
  • Providing a mechanism for a two-way exchange of information, when necessary
Outbreak Plan Message

The most important part of this process is the development of the message. Great care should be taken to develop messages that:

  • Are clear and transparent
  • Simplify language and presentation, but do not simplify content
  • Answer the concerns of stakeholders and address any misconceptions or misunderstandings
  • Are updated frequently as the situation changes and as the perceptions, concerns, and understandings of stakeholders change
  • Clearly explain what actions are necessary for addressing the risk, what the audience’s role is, and what any consequences for not taking those actions are

In crisis situations, resources for managing the risk are often scarce, and organizations are often reluctant to spend the resources necessary to develop appropriate crisis communication messages. However, the importance of doing so cannot be understated, particularly in situations where stakeholder action is critical to the success of the risk management strategy. Some of the consequences of poor risk communication include the following.

  • The public might make poor choices or make good choices too late.
  • Public frustration (or outrage) might develop. Once the public becomes outraged, communication becomes very difficult, if not impossible.
  • Messages might be misinterpreted or misunderstood, causing bad feelings.
  • The public might start to mistrust the agency. As an old proverb says: “Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, forever to repair.”

A good example of crisis communication for plant protection are the actions taken in British Columbia, Canada in response to the discovery of pesticide-resistant codling moths in the United States. Codling moth is a key pest of apples, and pears, and ornamental trees, like hawthorn and crabapple. Explore to learn more.

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There are several lessons to learn from this experience.

  1. Risk communication is an essential part of any risk-management plan. It is even more critical for plans that require public support in order to be successful.
  2. Relevant information must be given to appropriate audiences, and this information should clearly convey what actions are required.
  3. The most successful crisis communication programs allow for the two-way exchange of information. Risk managers need to have a clear understanding of the perceptions of the community and the incentives that cause them to behave in a particular way. Additionally, the most successful risk-management programs are those in which the public has some ownership.

Crisis communication is used in emergency situations when immediate action needs to take place. In order to be effective, crisis communication must ensure delivery of relevant information to the appropriate audience. It must convey what actions might be required of whom and prove a mechanism for a two-way exchange of information when necessary. Stakeholder support or action is needed for successful management of risk in urgent situations. It is particularly important for effective crisis communication that sufficient resources are allocated.

To continue, select Topic 2 from the Topics menu above or click here.