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INNOVATIVE JOINT VENTURE UNLEASHES ‘DAY FROM HELL’ ON NORTH-EAST SENIOR EXECUTIVES

An Aberdeen-based specialist investigation company has joined forces with a leading legal firm to offer a unique training experience designed to provide business professionals with the skills to handle the aftermath of a major incident.

Matrix Risk Control has established a joint venture with Paull & Williamsons LLP to deliver several newly developed training courses designed to provide delegates with ‘real life’ experiences. ‘The Day From Hell’ has become the organisations’ signature course, taking senior executives through a crisis situation which could potentially affect their company.

Believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, ‘The Day from Hell’ training experience will focus on a number of significant areas, including police investigations and interviews, legal issues and the pressure of handling grieving relatives, and demanding media.

Alan Smith, director of Matrix and former head of Major Crime Operations with Grampian Police, has led on many recent inquiries into high profile offshore tragedies and criminal investigations.

He said those attending the course will be provided with an invaluable insight into the reality of dealing with a crisis.

“Accidents and major incidents happen. Every day in the UK, a number of CEOs and directors will wake up not knowing that they are about to face their ‘Day from Hell’. Obviously every company hopes it won’t happen but is that enough?

“Apart from the more obvious major incident scenarios, crises can take the form of a corporate police investigation, such as corporate homicide or bribery and corruption. We say ‘You decide what keeps you awake at night and we will build a scenario’.

“This training experience will provide delegates with a safe but extremely realistic opportunity to test the skills of their management team in a dramatic unfolding scenario of their choice. From grieving relatives to addressing the media and closing with the opportunity to face a mock police interview - the fast moving day has it all. It’s not the traditional emergency response training people are used to.”

Along with training from Matrix staff, there will also be sessions with Rona Jamieson, head of the health, safety and environmental law division at Paull & Williamsons.

Well known for her expertise in relation to accidents at work, particularly offshore, she regularly represents employers and insurers in health and safety prosecutions, fatal accident inquiries, and environmental prosecutions. She also provides advice and guidance to employers and individuals with management responsibilities in relation to compliance.

She said: “Senior managers are far more likely to face a police interview nowadays, in the event of a corporate homicide investigation. In such circumstances the management team may be potential “suspects” and face interviews under police caution.

“For those who think such investigations are likely to be very rare - it now appears to be Crown Office policy to investigate all fatal accidents at work as potential corporate homicide offences.’’

Matrix’s current primary market is the oil and gas industry, as around 90% of clients come from that sector. However, the business also operates within the construction and transport industries among others. Since its formation, the Matrix team has run more than 100 courses in the UK, Europe and the Arab Emirates, together with the provision of independent investigation support during numerous live incidents worldwide.

Paull & Williamsons is Aberdeen's largest commercial law firm covering a wide range of industry sectors, with particular expertise in Oil & Gas and Property Development. The team, which includes 26 partners and a total staff of over 130 is endorsed by leading independent legal directories as being ‘dominant in the market' and 'commanding the elite deals'. From its headquarters in Aberdeen and office in Edinburgh, Paull & Williamsons' extensive client base extends throughout Scotland and internationally.

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