Beirut Chemical Explosion

Craig Swallow

Mass notification instrumental in navigating emergency.

A large American multinational oil and gas corporation, which has been a client of Vismo for a number of years deploys the Vismo App on smartphones devices to monitor and protect employees, executives and expatriates when travelling around the world on business. The company has a strong understanding of its legal and moral obligations towards its global staff and a dynamic appreciation of the risks staff can face.

Situation

On 4th August 2020, two major explosions killed more than 200 people at the port of the city of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The disaster was caused by an extensive fire at the port, which spread to the roof of the warehouse where ammonium nitrate was stored. As the news broke across the world, it was crucial for the client to locate and ensure the safety of their travelling employees and expatriates within the Beirut area as soon as possible.

Result

Upon notification of the incident, the client used the Vismo Secure Portal to expeditiously locate all travellers in the nearby vicinity of the explosion. Using Vismo Mass Notification, the client was able to effectively communicate crucial information and alert the identified travellers of the situation, with message response options. Fortunately, all employees within the affected area were in places of safety and were able to confirm their current status from within the Vismo App on their smartphones.

Benefits

Using the latest tracking technology, the Vismo Global Traveller App operates in the background of the device, while automatically reporting precise location fixes to the Vismo Secure Portal. The live tracking updates helps to automatically eliminate those employees who were not in the area without needing to individually contact them; improving organisational efficiencies while freeing up vital resources.

This location information was vital in understanding which employees were in the Beirut area and ensuring the client could communicate with and establish the safety of their employees. Not only did Vismo enable the client to locate their employees, it also ensured the client had the resources to send crucial information about the explosion, using Vismo Mass Notification, to the employees.

By utilising the Vismo solution the client was able to successfully locate, monitor and communicate with all its employees in and around the Beirut area following the disaster while meeting its organisational Duty of Care, all from within one powerful platform.