Be Prepared For a Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) Crisis

Mold has been around for millennia but, for the past decade, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) have emerged as important workplace health issues because courts and the media have been actively redefining acceptable remedies.
IAQ became a major issue because bacteria can lurk undetected in carpets or in the heating or cooling system of offices, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, and apartments.

The term sick building syndrome is used to describe situations in which occupants experience acute health or comfort problems that seem to be linked to time spent in a specific building, although no definite illness or cause can readily be identified.

Regulatory and oversight authorities have now come up with the nebulous phrasing “reasonable standard of care.” It has become a yardstick for determining damages in legal proceedings.

At best, the science on mold toxicity and causation of ailments is unsettled. Public health experts say it could be years before research shows whether certain indoor molds (among hundreds) cause the severe health problems alleged in recent litigation.

A leading insurance think tank estimates that, to date, insurers have paid over $3 billion in mold claims on behalf of health care, property management firms, hotels, and restaurants. Today, no corporation or institution is exempt from this expensive litigation.

While devastating an organization’s reputation, or a publicly traded company’s stock price, the hidden costs in failing to implement a solid communication response will quickly translate as lost customers, low employee morale, and low productivity.
In a worst-case scenario, a company can find itself on the receiving end of a high-profile lawsuit that breaks on the evening news.

When a crisis of this magnitude occurs, immediately convene your crisis team, if you have one. Team members need to be apprised of the technical facts so that, collectively, they can decide the best approaches to both remediation and communications. Designate the appropriate spokesperson. For a problem like SBS, it’s likely to be the CEO.

Assess the situation and develop appropriate message points for key audiences, such as tenants, neighbors and local politicians. Evaluate other communication methods such as the company Web site, internal e-mail, weekly meetings, etc. Request hourly or daily updates on the overall strategies of your legal and scientific teams.

Keep deadlines in mind, and track the coverage. Regardless of past experience, consider the media as neutral even as you prepare for hostile questions and respond to all inquiries in a timely fashion.

Levick Strategic Communications protects brands and reputations during crises and high-stakes litigation. Honored as Crisis Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report in 2005, Levick wins the hearts and minds of key audiences with comprehensive campaigns on behalf of clients on high-stakes communications such as high-stakes litigation and crisis PR / communications.