HAZWOPER Safety: Managing Press Relations & Media Communication in Lab Settings

Your first response in an emergency, your first responsibility should always be focused on the most directly affected. Any immediate risks need to be addressed. That should go without saying, but sometimes in the world of press relations, it can become difficult to remember your priorities. So once you have the time to think about how you handle an emergency in a more public way, how do you know where to turn? One way to think about it is by putting media outreach into two categories, known as earned media and unearned media. If the risk to the public is minimal, putting out a statement on earned media can sometimes be enough to raise awareness about an emergency. For example, maybe there's no risk to the public, but something did occur on site that you need to address with your customers or employees. In that case, turning to earned media is probably the most appropriate channel. You may not need to escalate it. Beyond that, if a risk to the public does exist, you might need to expand your outreach. You may have to turn to unearned media with a bigger reach and explain that you have a message that has to get out to the public. A warning about a hazard, for example, or an official recommendation that people don't use your product in the wrong way. It.