Triplette Competition Arms

Crisis Communication Plan: Forge Fire at International Production Facility

Developed by David Owens-Hill

December 1, 2011

Plan rehearsal dates:

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This document is confidential. Please address questions/concerns to the Office of Human Resources or your immediate supervisor.

Contents

Quick Reference Guide

The Crisis Management Working Group

Working Group Staff

Working Group Meeting Place

Triplette Competition Arms Crisis Communication Plan for an International Forge Fire

With or Without Injuries

Why is This Plan Important?

What Could Happen if This Plan is not Followed?

Has This Crisis Occurred Before?

Acknowledgements

Key Audiences

Internal

External

Statement from Management to Employees, Domestic and Abroad

Guiding Principles in Identifying and Managing a Crisis

Principles Governing Crisis Communication in the Event of an Incident

Determining When the Crisis Begins and Notifying the U.S.-based Crisis Management

Working group

International Calling

Crisis Management Working Group Phone Tree

The Media Spokesperson

Primary Spokesperson

Secondary Spokesperson

Tips for Spokespersons

List of Emergency Contacts

Key Messages

Evaluation of Plan Effectiveness After A Crisis

Media Relations

Community Outreach

Crisis Management Working Group

Proactive Methods of Communication by Audience

Reactive Methods of Communication

Prepared Information

Generic News Release for Forge Fire at an International Facility with injuries

Generic News Release for Forge Fire at an International Facility without injuries

TCA Forge Fact Sheet

Triplette Competition Arms Fact Sheet

Forging and Triplette’s Use of Forged Blades

The TCA Forge Facility

Appendix Crisis Management Team Contact List Incident Report Worksheets/Action Log

Quick Reference Guide

The Crisis Management Working Group Authority to activate the Crisis Management Working Group is designated to each

member. The Triplette Crisis Management Working Group must be available to respond

and react as a team in emergency or crisis situations. The team will be required to meet

annually to review existing crisis communication plans, create new plans for new

scenarios, and update information as necessary. A written report of annual activity will be

provided to the Department of Human Resources for review and approval.

Working Group Staff

The Crisis Management Working Group will consist of the following roles. Staff

assigned to each role is determined annually by nomination and vote from the Crisis

Management Working Group:

• Incident Commander • Information Leader • Safety Officer • General Staff Leaders:

o Operations o Planning o Logistics o Administration

The following titles are permanent members of the Crisis Management Working Group:

• Vice President, Chief Operations Officer • Vice President for Human Resources • Director of International Business, Staff Interpreter • Director of Operations, International Facilities • Office Manager

Crisis Management Team Working Group General Plan (assumptions)

• In any situation where Police or Fire Departments are involved, they will secure the situation and take jurisdiction of all activities

• Wray Ward, Triplette’s Public Relations firm of record, will coordinate all communication with the media in consultation with the Incident Commander

• The company spokesperson will work closely with the staff from Wray Ward in the event of an emergency

• Under no circumstances will any representative of Triplette’s Crisis Management Team reveal a victim’s name, unless authorized to do so by the victim or the victim’s agents

Crisis Team Meeting Place

In the event of a crisis or emergency where the primary administrative offices of Triplette

Competition Arms are not affected, the Crisis Management Working Group will meet in

En Garde One, the primary administrative conference room on the first floor of the

management suite.

In the event of a crisis or emergency where the primary administrative offices of Triplette

Completition Arms are affected, the Crisis Management Working Group will meet in

“The Old House.”

331 Church Street Elkin, NC 28621 Parking gate code: 3022

Triplette Competition Arms Crisis Communication Plan for an International Forge Fire With or Without Injuries Why is this plan important?

The key strength of Triplette’s competitive advantage is in its ability to provide

the highest-quality fencing equipment available at a reasonable cost. By maintaining our

own forge facilities, we can maintain a higher capacity for fencing blade production and

oversee control of quality specifications to a greater degree than were we to rely on

vendors to meet our specifications.

Fencing blades are at the heart of every fencer’s equipment pack and many

athletes use our blades exclusively in their competitions. This is the trust that we’ve built

with our consumers over the past three decades, and the trust that we must maintain at all

cost. Once a fencer starts using Triplette blades, they understand the strength, durability,

and quality of this product. Over the last 33 years, we have invested nearly $11m in

international and domestic forge facilities and have refined our metallurgical recipe to

create a blade that is uniquely ours. If production at any of our international facilities is

halted because of fire, our supply chain will have an irrevocable break.

Aside from business continuity, our French employees are a part of the Triplette

family. Our U.S.-based employees may not see the everyday, but they are trusted

colleagues who deserve our full efforts when affected by a workplace crisis.

What could happen if this plan is not followed?

If this crisis communication plan is not followed in the event of an emergency, the

company’s reputation could be at stake in the insular fencing community. This will surely

result in a loss of business. Trust and reliability are important to consumers, and they

must feel that they can rely on Triplette Competition Arms to provide the products they

expect when they need them.

Has this crisis occurred before?

We are fortunate that our company has never had an international forge fire with

or without injuries. Because of the nature of metalworking, almost all of our direct

competitors (including Prieur, Uhlmann, and Blue Gauntlet) have experienced forge fires

in the past 8 years. None of these incidents resulted in injuries, but all created significant

delays in the delivery of raw blades to the domestic facilities that built sport weapons. It

is estimated that Uhlmann’s fire in 2009—which closed the company’s weapons supply

chain for 13 months—ultimately cost the organization $16.8m+ dollars in lost business.

Acknowledgements By signing this statement, I verify that I have read this crisis communication plan and am

prepared to put it into effect.

President and CEO: Walter W. Triplette

Signature Date

Vice President and COO: Laura O. Triplette

Signature Date

Vice President for Human Resources: Rebecca Cauthren

Signature Date

Director of International Business, Staff Interpreter: Kenneth Raspberry

Signature Date

Key Audiences

Internal

Internal audiences likely affected by a forge fire include, but are not limited to:

management, U.S.-based employees (sales, manufacturing, processing, customer service),

France-based employees (manufacturing, business operations), Inter-government liaisons,

investors, business development staff, and on-site team representatives.

External

External audiences likely affected by a forge fire include, but are not limited to:

customers, fencing coaches, community leaders in Saint-Denis and Paris (17 arr. and

above), blog writers, media, and fencing forum contributors.

Statement from Management to Employees, Domestic and Abroad

This plan, in its entirety, is available in French for our international employees on the company intranet. Ce plan, dans son intégralité, est disponible en Français pour nos employés internationaux sur l'intranet de l'entreprise.

Since it began in the back of the Oro Bike Shop on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill,

North Carolina 33 years ago, Triplette Competition Arms has always had one goal: to sell

the sport fencing equipment that we always wanted to use but could never find at an

affordable price. Our offices have gotten a little bit bigger, our staff a little larger, and our

sales volume has grown, but our goal remains the same. The first year that we were in

business, we sold $68 dollars worth of equipment to the University of North Carolina

Chapel Hill Fencing Team. In FY 2010 we sold more than $32M worth of equipment to

more than 212,000 individual consumers in 9 countries. We grew out of necessity—in

order to provide the equipment we wanted to use, we had to create the equipment that we

wanted to use, often from scratch. We’ve done it, folks. Now we have to protect what

we’ve built together.

We’re a family at Triplette. From the owners to the staff that take orders for us

each day, we look out for one another. We’ve prepared this plan to take care of our own.

We hope never to employ this plan: in an ideal world, we could work everyday free from

the fear of a workplace crisis. But we know better. The forge is a dangerous environment

with molten metal and sparks at every hammering-station. We understand the danger

inherent in this environment, and while we’ve done everything necessary to ensure the

safety of our employees and facility, we know it’s best to be prepared with a plan should

a fire break out.

Before we outline the steps to take should we have a fire in the forge, the entire

management team would like to thank the hard working individuals on the Crisis

Management Working Group and the employees who work everyday to make sure our

operating environment is the best it can be. There are a few assumptions we must make

about a crisis before we talk about how to manage one. We feel that the bullet points

below are as much a part of our culture as our mission statement, and hope that you will

agree.

Guiding Principles in Identifying and Managing a Crisis

• The protection of human life and health is of the utmost importance • Triplette property and other resources shall be protected and preserved whenever

possible consistent with the primary of human health and safety • Triplette shall, wherever possible, assist local authorities and may allocate

facilities, equipment, and personnel to assist in the event of an incident • The Triplette attorney of record shall be consulted in cases where the legal

responsibilities of the organization are unclear Policies Governing Crisis Communication in the Event of an Incident

• Communications shall be from the President of Triplette Competition Arms or his designee with respect to crises affecting the organization

• The Crisis Management Working Group, including foreign employees, shall inform the President and Vice Presidents of any crisis that has occurred or that is threatening life, health, or company property, and give periodic status reports as information is made available

• Appropriate information shall be routed to company employees as outlined in this crisis communication plan

• The Human Resources Office shall be the contact group for adaptations or revisions to this plan

Determining When the Crisis Begins and Notifying the U.S.-based Crisis

Management Working Group

In the event of an international forge fire, the director of that facility is

responsible for notifying the Crisis Management Working Group. The Crisis

Management Working Group should be notified in the event of any emergency—even if

the fire is small and is quickly extinguished.

Because of the nature of metalworking, fires are not uncommon and,

unfortunately, injuries often occur. The 2009 Uhlmann forge fire opened the eyes of our

crisis communicators to the likelihood of this event. When employees, especially those

stationed abroad, are injured the situation can create serious long-term problems such as:

• Loss of business • Reduced workforce • Negative publicity • Supply chain issues • Legal repercussions

Though we train each employee to minimize danger, we must be prepared to recognize

and address the beginning of a crisis in order to best manage it.

International calling

All Triplette corporate cellular telephones have international calling plans. In the

event of a crisis, the first call should be to the top of the Crisis Management Working

Group Phone Tree/Incident Manager. Email is not an appropriate alternative to a phone

call in the event of a crisis.

If you are calling from a phone other than a Triplette corporate cellular telephone,

please note the following international calling instructions:

• To call from the U.S. to Paris, France: Dial 011 + 33 + 4 + local number (Paris local time is six hours AHEAD of Eastern Standard Time)

• To call from Paris, France to the U.S.: Dial 00 + 1* + 1 + Area Code + Phone Number (U.S. Eastern Standard Time is six hours BEHIND Paris local time)

Crisis Management Working Group Phone Tree

   

International  Incident  Contact  

U.S.-­‐based  Incident  Manager  

Information  Leader/Spokesperson   Safety  Of>icer  

Operations  

Planning  

Logistics  

Administrative  Support  

President  

The Media Spokesperson

In the event of an international forge fire that generates media attention, the media

spokesperson shall represent the company on all matters related to the crisis. Uniformity

of message is very important and the spokesperson will be responsible for working

directly with the staff-translator to ensure messages distributed domestically and abroad

are consistent. Because of cultural differences, it is preferred that the spokesperson

selected for media coverage be a member of the international travel team if the primary

and secondary spokespersons are not available.

Primary Spokesperson

Walter W. Triplette, President and CEO

• Office Tel: 336-835-7774, ext. 26 • Mobile Tel: 336-366-0171 • Home Tel: 336-835-4176 • Email: walter@triplette.com

Secondary Spokesperson

Kenneth Raspberry, Director of International Business and Staff Translator

• Office Tel: 336-835-7774, ext. 21 • Mobile Tel: 336-366-0179 • Home Tel: 336-835-4321 • Email: ken@triplette.com

Tips for spokespersons

Prepare for answering who, what, when, where, why and how

• Focus on key messages from Crisis Management Working Group • Review background information gathered by Crisis Management Working Group

• Be accessible and pleasant to reporters: show respect, and remember their names; speak in their native tongue only if you are comfortable you can do so without stumbling—engage a translator if necessary

• Avoid saying “no comment” • Be honest • Face the reporter, not the camera or the microphone • Avoid jargon: speak in everyday language • Do not speculate, ask for clarification if necessary, refer to the France-based local

authorities to answer questions if appropriate

List of Emergency Contacts

NYA International Crisis Prevention and Response (Consultant available for International Crises)

1 Cornhill London Ec3V 3ND +44 (0) 203 170 8661

TCA Forge, Physical address and location

Zl du BEC Rue Antoine Lavoisier 42500 Le Chambon-Feugerolles +33 (4) 77 61 86 24

Hotel Mirific Opera (Penthouse retained for Triplette business, all seasons) 119 Avenue de Clichy 75017 Paris, France +33 (4) 46 27 28 04 Paris Fire Brigade, First Fire Group (first responders at the Saint-Denis forge location) 12 Rue Carpeaux 75018 Paris, France +33 (4) 42 26 83 18

Key Messages

In the event of an incident at TCA forge, a wholly-owned French Subsidiary of

Triplette Competition Arms, our first priority is our people. Our French employees are as

important the Triplette family as those in our U.S. centers of operation and we will take

any measures necessary to ensure their safety and security in the event of a fire. Our

employees are more than craftspeople. They are highly trained, very skilled metalworkers

with a long history of safe operations in their facilities. In the event of a fire at a forge

facility with injuries, we will work with local authorities to secure the scene and will

provide any resources necessary to the families, employees, and community affected by

the crisis.

Human life and safety will be our primary concern in the event of a fire. Once

these considerations are covered, we will turn to the investigative mindset to diagnose the

cause of the crisis and will work with local authorities to deliver reports to our customers

and stakeholders explaining the cause of the crisis and the steps taken to ensure a similar

crisis does not occur in the future.

We will restate constantly our superior, unblemished safety record at our forge

facilities, the safety training available to our employees domestic and abroad, our

commitment to excellence in product production and customer service (if products are

made scarce because of a facility shut-down), and our commitment to protecting our

people.

The following key messages should be stressed in the order indicated:

1. Our biggest concern is for the victims and families of those affected

2. We are sorry for what happened and will continually work to ensure our facilities are

as safe as possible

3. We have never had a safety lapse in any of our international facilities and revise our

fire-plans annually to ensure they are up-to-date with factory specifications and

operations

4. If we don’t know how it happened, we will work around the clock to find out and will

inform the appropriate parties as soon as possible

5. We maintain a strict safety code and participate in French and European Union

employee safety programs to ensure our international family have safe working

conditions

Evaluation of Plan Effectiveness After a Crisis

After a crisis, the following steps will be followed to ensure that Triplette is better

prepared for the future. This evaluation is for looking at what went right and what went

wrong during the crisis. It covers all aspects of the crisis, including media relations,

community outreach, and the Crisis Management Working Group’s performance.

1. Media Relations: Working with Wray Ward, Triplette’s Public Relations firm of

record, review “Media Ping” reports for the period preceding the event, during the

event, and following the event to identify patterns of media coverage

internationally and abroad. Meltwater, the system used to track media coverage,

will provide a positive/negative score based on certain keywords and tone used in

media coverage. By evaluating these scores using pre-event coverage as a

baseline, we can evaluate a return to normalcy post-event. Additionally, staff

resources will be made available to monitor the many fencing forums, blogs, and

web-resources populated by our customers and community. A daily report of

comments of interest will be generated in the weeks following the crisis to ensure

our customers, not just the media, are confident in our return to business as usual.

Social media will be tracked in much the same way, though we encourage our

internal marketing staff to interact with users of social media, not just to evaluate

response.

2. Community Outreach: Our community initiatives are physical and digital. Our

first priority must be our people. We will ensure that the community affected by

the fire, including displaced employees, victim’s families, neighborhoods affected

by smoke/fire, etc. are financially compensated for their time. We will ensure

post-crisis rebuilding of any facilities and neighborhoods affected.

3. Crisis Management Working Group: Did the team perform well under

pressure? Did the notification plans for internal and external audiences effectively

convey the information necessary? Were any employees unavailable or

systemically ill-equipped to handle the crisis. Do we need to add or remove

members of the Crisis Management Working Group?

Following a forge fire, the Crisis Management Working Group will assemble a

debrief report no more than 14 business days after the Incident Commander closes the

crisis file. This report will be used to refine this communication plan, as necessary, with

key learnings.

Proactive Methods of Communication by Audience

In the event of a crisis, the following publics should be contacted in the manner

indicated in the chart below:

Public Te

l.

Emai

l

Intr

anet

New

s R

elea

se

Inte

rnet

R

espo

nse

Mar

ketin

g M

ater

ials

Crisis Management Working Group • •

Company Owners (including investors) • •

U.S.-based Based Employees • •

France-based Employees • •

Customers • • •

Electronic Media (forums, user groups, customer interaction sites.) •

Daily Newspapers (U.S. and International) • • •

Weekly Newspapers/Industry Newsletters • •

Fencing-specific news publications • • • •

Fédération Internationale d’Escrime leadership • • •

Suppliers •

Fencing Community Leaders • • •

Additional lines of communication are made available and employed as advised by the

Incident Commander and Public Relations agency of record.

Reactive Methods of Communication

In the event of a forge fire, we anticipate the majority of media calls to be routed

to the administrative headquarters of the facility there. Once a crisis file is opened by the

Crisis Management Working Group, the administrative staff of the Saint-Denis office

will be instructed to use the I.P. forward features of the installed phone system to

seamlessly direct their calls to the U.S. administrative office where they will be accepted

by the Crisis Management Working Group. The administrative support staff on the

working group will direct, dispatch, and log calls as appropriate.

Calls not related to the incident will be forwarded to voicemail. The

administrative staffers responsible for this assignment will be bilingual in English and in

French, but will also have support from the internal interpreter.

The forge does not maintain a separate web-presence. Triplette’s website is

equipped with a “crisis banner” that can be applied to the homepage as needed when

directed by the Incident Commander. The Director of Marketing controls this function.

Should a crisis hotline be established, it will forward to the main line of En Garde

One, the administrative conference room, and calls will be addressed by the

administrative support staff of the Crisis Management Working Group.

Prepared Information

Generic News Release for Forge Fire at International Facility with injuries

(N) employees from TCA Forge, a wholly-owned French subsidiary of Triplette

Competition Arms (Charlotte, North Carolina), are being treated for injuries sustained in

a fire at the forge facility in Saint-Denis outside Paris, France. The extent of the injuries

are not known at this time, and questions about the condition of the employees are being

referred to the [name of hospital] hospital in Paris.

“We are very concerned about the members of our family affected by this tragedy,

and pray for a speedy recovery,” said [spokesperson’s name] Triplette’s

[spokesperson’s title].

According to [whom], the fire began in the [area of facility] and was

extinguished in [amount of time]. At this time, the cause of the fire is undetermined. The

facility manufactures sport fencing blades for Triplette, a 33 year old, family-run business

in North Carolina.

The fire is being investigated by local authorities. This is the first fire at this

facility, opened by the Blaise brothers in 1885, and there are no safety violations on

record with the European Union Employee Safety Commission.

Generic News Release for Forge Fire at International Facility without injuries

TCA Forge, a wholly-owned French subsidiary of Triplette Competition Arms

(Charlotte, North Carolina), sustained fire damage at the forge facility in Saint-Denis

outside Paris, France. The extent of the damage to the facility is undetermined at this time

and no employees were injured.

“A fire is a constant threat at this type of facility, but we are relieved that all of

our French family are safe and vow to reopen the facility as soon as possible. In the

meantime, we will work to maintain our employees stability while we rebuild,” said

[spokesperson’s name] Triplette’s [spokesperson’s title].

According to [whom], the fire began in the [area of facility] and was

extinguished in [amount of time]. At this time, the cause of the fire is undetermined. The

facility manufactures sport Fencing blades for Triplette, a 33 year old, family-run

business in North Carolina.

The fire is being investigated by local authorities. This is the first fire at this

facility, opened by the Blaise brothers in 1885, and there are no safety violations on

record with the European Union Employee Safety Commission.

TCA Forge Fact Sheet

The TCA Forge was founded by the Blaise brothers in 1885. It is located in Saint-

Denis, outside Paris, France. Originally the company manufacturerd Blaise farm tools

before turning to production of blades for sport Fencing weapons.

Walter Triplette of Triplette Competition Arms purchased the forge from the

Blaise Family in 1988, creating a wholly-owned subsidiary of his premier fencing supply

house. TCA Forge, and Triplette, are global leaders in the manufacture and sale of foil,

epee, and sabre blades for sport fencing competition. TCA Forge employs 45 and

produces 50,000-60,000 blades per year.

Triplette Competition Arms Fact Sheet

Triplette Competition Arms was founded in 1978 in the back of a bicycle shop in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The company was created by fencers, for fencers;

specifically those who couldn’t find the equipment they needed at affordable prices. Now

located in Elkin, North Carolina, Triplette has a staff of nearly 150, spread across three

facilities. With annual sales over $30M, the company’s goal, according to Walter

Triplette, has never changed: “to provide the equipment we, as fencers, would want to

use.” As one of the oldest fencing supply house in the United States, Triplette produces

uniforms, gloves, masks, and weapons.

Forging and Triplette’s Use of Forged Blades

Forging is one of the oldest known metalworking processes. The process of

forging involves using pounding and pressure to shape molten metal. Fencing blades that

are forged are generally lighter, more flexible, and stronger than their extruded

counterparts. Since 1978, Triplette has only sold forged blades. In a presentation to the

Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE), Triplette explained that, though extruded

blades are cheaper to produce, the final product is of inferior quality and, because of a

higher risk of breakage, dangerous to the consumer. Because of the company’s

pioneering efforts, in 2001, the FIE banned extruded blades from Tier One competitions.

Triplette blades use a special, proprietary blend of metals refined over the last 25

years of business. Though the special formula is patented and trademarked, many

competitors have tried to replicate the special qualities of a Triplette blade. Many

customer’s tell Triplette that, though some come close, no one can replicate the feeling of

a TCA blade.

The TCA Forge Facility

Constructed in 1989 at a cost of $4M, the TCA Forge facility is considered a

technological frontrunner in the manufacture of sport fencing blades. The facility features

state-of-the-art foundry equipment, fire actuator system, full sprinkler coverage across the

entire facility and additional foam heads in “hot” areas (those where molten metals are

moved from kiln to hammer-stations.

The facility has a spotless safety record with no recorded incidents of human

injury since Triplette took control of the facility.

Management teams from the U.S. are on-site at the French facility, and Triplette

staff regularly travel to Paris to inspect the facility and products produced.

Appendix

Crisis Management Team Contact List

Fill in the worksheet below at the annual Crisis Management Working Group kick-off

meeting with appropriate contact information. This information should be checked and

updated no less than three times per calendar year at dates determined by the year’s

incident commander.

Crisis Management Working Group for __________________ (calendar year)

Incident Commander: _____________________________________________________

Employee Mobile Tel. Home Tel. Email address

Incident Report Worksheets/Action Log

The worksheet below must be filled in during times of crisis communication. Once a

crisis file is opened by the Incident Commander, the actions of each team member must

be recorded so that a complete timeline can be constructed during the debrief reporting

period.

Date Time Activity Person Responsible

Notes: