It is not uncommon for me to be asked during a crisis response if an institution should say they will not allow the incident to be repeated, or even promise there will not be a repeat event. My advice is... unless you can control all elements of the situation, don't do it. Instead, explain the situation clearly, say what you are doing to address the situation and explain that you are creating protocols to prevent something similar to happen. But, stop yourself from jumping off that cliff. You will lose significant credibility should the incident be repeated or your language is vague enough to come back to haunt you.
Examples abound in higher education, but I was struck by an example in yesterday's newspaper.-- the Department of Agriculture jumped off that cliff:
"Federal authorities last month assured consumers that a meat plant linked to nearly 50 illnesses caused by tainted ground beef had made enough changes after a recall to ensure that its products were safe. Less than a month later, the same processor has recalled 1.2 million pounds of other beef products that might have sickened more than 30 people."
In this situation, only the ground beef processing portion of the plant had the new protocols put in place. The meat "sold to retailers and other companies that planned to further process the meat" was not covered by the improved safety measures. This is where the Department of Agriculture could have used some help. Don't use vague language in your response, and if you say something is safe be sure you can back up your words. People don't have time to research what you are or are not including in your response, so keep it simple and truthful.
We all understand that bad things happen, but nobody appreciates when they feel they are receiving a story that has been "spun."
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