Date:        1 November 2022

Time:        2pm GMT

Duration:  1 hour

It is striking how many parallels can be drawn between the Covid-19 health crisis and an oil spill response. They are both emergency response situations that can have impacts lasting months or years.  In both cases, we see a situation where a bad thing has already occurred and the task at hand is to mitigate the unfortunate consequences for the optimal outcome. 

There may be several options and decisions to make to limit the damage, and a need for these options to be considered objectively, based on science rather than driven by emotion.  In the oil spill response community this process is known as Spill Impact Mitigation Assessment (SIMA).  

The SIMA discussion may require the debunking of myths and unfounded perceptions about different response techniques.  Any detrimental effects on the economy or the environment need to be balanced against the impact mitigation supported by case history evidence and unambiguous science. 

The SIMA output provides a semi-quantitative output to support the decision-making process however the challenge remains to communicate the output in clear, concise, and objective ways that stakeholders can access and understand.    

In this webinar, we explore the parallels and lessons learned from the communications around the response to the pandemic and whether we can transfer these to effective dispersant communications. 

Meet the Presenter

Andy Nicoll

Andy is OSRL's Principal Preparedness and Response Authority. He has over 30 years of experience in oil spill preparedness and response in Government and Industry. He trained at the College of Maritime Studies, Warsash where he qualified with a TEC Diploma in Nautical Science and a DOT Class 3 Certificate of Competency (Deck Officer), serving for 10 years in the UK Merchant Navy prior to joining OSRL. Andy has fulfilled several roles at OSRL including Response Technician, Principal Trainer, Incident Manager and Industry Outreach Manager.