Who We Are

Incident Readiness & Response was formed to provide a specialized service to businesses to assess areas of employee/operational safety, emergency preparedness and continuity of operations planning. This may also involve some health, environmental and physical security issues as well as addressing critical collaboration that is required between business continuity and IT/Disaster Recovery. Professional, independent assessment of these operational risk areas can assist in meeting regulatory requirements and assist organizations moving towards or attaining best practices and improving cost effectiveness and efficiencies.

Based on commitments and resourcing, to provide timely as well as quality service, Incident Readiness & Response uses pre-screened partners, experts in their particular disciplines, to ensure that your specific needs are met. When partners are utilized as either a significant or limited component of our services, Incident Readiness & Response provides quality of service oversight.

Biography of Bill Mitzel, Founder and Director of Operations

bill mitzel

Bill’s key focus is on applying and developing best practices to protect employees and business assets, to identify and protect critical business processes and to partner with information technology experts to ensure that disrupting events can be addressed with little to no impact on services and reputation.

Below is some detail on Bill’s areas of expertise in operational risk management.

Safety
  • Involved in field operations that were focused on developing safety programs for multiple industries throughout the U.S. over a 15 year period. This includes 10 years of working with and overseeing a field staff of up to 11, including industrial hygienists, ergonomists, fire protection engineers and product liability specialists.
  • Authored and managed customized safety programs as part of health care, logging, fleet, educational and day care insurance programs.
  • Co-authored Safety Engineering Standards, by Industrial Indemnity (1990)
  • Fleet safety accomplishments including Smith System Advanced Driver Trainer work, addressing regional distribution fleets, emergency vehicle fleets and coordinating the successful introduction of new technology products such as DriveCams.
  • Jointly developed, with claims executives, modified return-to-work programs. Oversaw safety programs to meet multi-national and multi-state regulatory requirements.
  • Created advanced services and related technical bulletins to address special areas of risk in worker’s compensation, products liability and agribusiness.
  • Presented to international audiences of risk engineers to promote best practices in conducting risk control surveys and completing multi-line reports for underwriters.
Emergency Management
  • Developed a best practices “all reasonable hazards” based emergency procedure program inclusive of workplace violence training. Addressed facilities with >1000+ employees and high-rise occupancies.
  • Launched upgraded emergency procedure training via in-person presentations, recorded WebEx’s and advanced learning management system-delivered sessions.
  • Trained emergency management team members in the Incident Command System.
  • Initiated and coordinated facility/department exercises from tabletop to functional, including joint exercises with public sector First Responders.
Business Continuity
  • In-depth working knowledge of all Business Continuity subject matter areas recognized by Disaster Recovery International, Inc. and the Business Continuity Institute.
  • Experienced in procuring critical vendors for severe weather recognition, emergency employee notification, alternative work sites and business continuity management software.
  • Created a Business Incident Readiness Assessment tool to determine baseline preparedness and planning gaps.
Health
  • Led corporate wellness committees to ensure prudent use of program investments, the monitoring of results and reduction of health care expenses.
  • Pioneered and functionally exercised a best practices Pandemic Program in coordination with public health departments and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
  • Teamed up with public health departments to address foodborne illness, to author a technical bulletin on this exposure and to promote good agriculture practices.
  • Led 5-hospital Health Services System in meeting/exceeding CMS/Joint Commission requirements in Emergency Management and Business Continuity
Environmental
  • Addressed United States Department of Agriculture water quality and runoff concerns related to logging and dairy operations.
  • Authored technical bulletins on electromagnetic frequency exposures from high voltage lines over and near school playgrounds.
  • Assisted manufacturing clients with air sampling including testing specific hazards such as dust explosively in agricultural operations.
Physical Security
  • Addressed United States Department of Agriculture water quality and runoff concerns related to logging and dairy operations.
  • Established front desk and perimeter security procedures. Consulted with Certified Protection Professionals as needed.
  • Formed and led a 24/7 Corporate Threat Assessment Team. In 14 years of operations, all issues escalated to this team were resolved without injury or property damage.
  • Worked with security experts to determine appropriate protection levels, based on exposures, for buildings and parking garages.
Risk Management
  • Implemented and monitored an Enterprise Risk Management Program with assessments completed on a department-by-department basis with senior executive ownership.
  • Pioneered and executed the release of a Corporate Asset Protection Program. This program packaged health, safety, environmental, emergency management, business continuity, and physical security into centralized oversight for efficiency, moving towards best practices and effective presentation of related services and benefits to employees.
Education and Credentials
  • Bachelor of Science, Paramedic, Central Washington University.
  • Master of Science, Occupational Safety & Health, Central Washington University.
  • Associate in Risk Management, Insurance Institute of America.
  • Associate in Loss Control Management, Insurance Institute of America.
  • Certified Emergency Manager, International Association of Emergency Managers.
  • Master Business Continuity Professional, Disaster Recovery International, Inc.
  • ISO 22301 Lead Implementer (2013).