Re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic: the use and abuse of crisis simulations

One key argument to develop from this presentation is to question the assumption that risk, safety and security can ever be managed effectively. A number of the works cited will suggest that risk failure is an inherent property resulting from the operation of any social system over time. Many recent approaches to risk have been particularly important in deepening our understanding of the social and cultural complexity of risk in areas such as; communication, perception, systemic analysis, decision making and regulation. In terms of managing and responding to these concerns, social and cultural perspectives have been less effective. Risk identification is now a key issue of concern for virtually every organisation and government, dealing with the effects of risk remains analogous to a black box waiting to be opened. A secondary theme to the presentation is to consider the how the effects of risk and security failures, in particular crisis events, can be responded to more effectively. The presentation will hence review approaches to crisis response through simulation training. It will be argued in the work that many organisations, largely as a response to regulatory pressure, apportion too much emphasis on risk identification and avoidance and too little on response. It is argued that there is considerable scope for knowledge transference from the areas of simulation and gaming to crisis management. The work will review contemporary developments in the area of simulation design, evaluation and scenario planning with potential utility for improving generic crisis management capability.