Disasters: Further Information

Newrisk Limited is able to assist organisations and governments with all aspects of disaster prevention and response. Newrisk Limited and its principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, have previously provided media commentary, lectures, conference papers, workshops and publications on disaster related issues, examples of which are set out below. To return to an overview of Newrisk Limited's disaster prevention and response expertise, please click here.

To request Newrisk Limited's assistance in connection with disaster prevention and response or to discuss a tailored package of services, please contact Newrisk Limited directly.

Media Commentary

Newrisk Limited's principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, has provided media commentary on disasters, including:

• Heathrow airport electrical outage following fire in electrical substation, Monocle Radio, on 21 March 2025 - 'The Monocle Daily: Dr Sally Leivesley briefs us on Heathrow's shutdown'.
• New Year look ahead, The Globalist, Monocle Radio, 1 January 2024. 
• How should cities handle a crisis?appear for Monocle Radio The Urbanist on 30 January 2020,  Episode 433 Health emergency: the coronavirushttps://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-urbanist/433/
  • As the threat of the coronavirus spreads, we look at how our urban areas have coped when disaster has struck, be it terrorism, a health emergency, a natural disaster or a cyber attack, Security expert Dr Sally Leivesley on how urban areas are dealing with the coronavirus as more cases are confirmed outside mainland China.
• Iraq ISIL, Sunni-Shia Islam, Iran, Base Jumping and Other World News Items for BBC World Service News on 21 June 2014;
• Without a Trace: Who is behind the mystery of flight MH370? Talk in Hanger-7 for Servus TV (Austria) on 5 June 2014;
• Soma Mine Explosion for ITV Good Morning Britain on 15 May 2014;
• Soma Mine Explosion: Turkey causation and rescue for Sky News on 14 May 2014;
• 'The Plane that Vanished' panel interview by Donal MacIntyre on MAL MH370 plane disappearance and causation for Channel 5 on 14 March 2014;
• MAS Plane Disappearance for ITV Daybreak, Channel 5 News and ITV News on 10 March 2014;
• Public Concern over End of the World Belief linked to Mayan Calendar for ITV News on 21 December 2012;
• Oldham Gas Fuel Air Explosion for ITV News Daybreak on 27 June 2012;
• Continuing Flood Risks and National Flood Strategies for Sky News on 24 July 2007;
• Flood Recovery, Protection and Insurance for BBC Radio Five Live on 23 July 2007;
• Flood Risk and Remediation for Sky News on 23 July 2007;
• Tsunami Report Criticising Relief Effort for Sky News on 5 October 2005; and
• USA Flood and Hurricane Challenges for Sky News on 2 September 2005.

Lectures, Conference Papers and Workshops

Newrisk Limited and its principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, have previously provided lectures, conference papers and workshops on disasters preparation and response, including:

• 'Water and CBRNE/Cyber Terrorism: Waterborne threats and sustainability of cities including unusual secondary and tertiary water contamination lessons from Fukushima' - Presentation to the 'Role of Science in the Third Millenium, International Seminar on Nuclear War and Planetary Emergencies', 45th Session in Erice (Italy) in August 2012;
  
  
• 'Fukushima - Lessons Learned: Limiting the Consequences, Dealing with Loss of Containment' - workshop exercise to the Register of Security Engineers and Specialists, Continuing Professional Development Day at the Transport Research Laboratory in Berkshire (UK) in October 2011;
  
  
• Practical Responses to Extreme Events - Paper to Union Responses to Terrorism Threats: A Working Environment Unit Conference by Amicus in London (England) in May 2003;
  
  
• Protecting the Community and Emergency Response Teams - Paper to the Australian Bomb Data Centre Conference in Canberra (Australia) in October 1999;
  
  
• Emergency Incident Planning Exercise: Fuel Air - Workshops exercise to the Region VII International Training Conference & Exhibition of the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators in Canberra (Australia) in November 1997;
  
  
• Devising and Testing an Effective Contingency Plan to Minimise the Effects of Terrorism and Major Security Incidents - Paper to the Mastering Pro-Active Security Management Conference in London (England) in May 1995;
  
  
• Human Factors, Emergency Response and Planning - by Dr Sally Leivesley at Symposium and Workshop on Major LP Gas Incidents in Sydney (Australia) in October 1992;
  
  
• Psychological Factors in Mine Disasters and Effects of Disasters  - Paper to the Training Seminar for the Officials of Underground Coal Mining Industry (Australia) in September 1989;
  
  
• Major Incident Planning for Industry' - Paper to the Institute of Fire Engineers, Fire '88 Conference, Queensland in Brisbane (Australia) in May 1988;
  
  
• Psychological Response to a Nuclear Attack - Paper to the Institute of Civil Defence Meeting in London (England) in December 1981.

Publications on Disasters

Newrisk Limited's principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, has written publications on disaster prevention and response, including:

• 'Terrorism and Disasters - Challenges for the ADF' in Royal United Services Institute Bulletin (Issue No. 3), September 1997: "The potential for national terrorism, international terrorism and the types of weapons which may be used in Australia against persons and economic targets are outlined as future challenges for the ADF [(Australian Defence Force)]."
  
  
• 'Simple Techniques in Planning for Disasters: The Australian Experience'  in Disaster Management (1985).
  
  
• 'Disasters in Australia' in Journal of the Institute of Civil Defence (XLVIII) 12-15.
  
  
• Epidemiology of Disasters' by J Seaman, C Hogg and Dr Sally Leivesley (Karger: 1984).
  
  
• 'Natural Disasters in Australia' in Disasters (1984) 83-88.
  
  
• 'Disasters, Disaster Agents and Reponse'  in Disasters (1983) 288-308.
  
  
• 'The Social Consequences of Australian Disasters' in Proceedings: Disasters and the Small Dwelling: Conference at Oxford Polytechnic by I Davis (ed.) (Pergamon, Oxford) (1981) 43-50.
  
  
• Physical and Social Consequences of a Major Thames Flood - International Disaster Institute, London Interim Report, July 1980.
  
  
• Nuclear Reactors: Factors Associated with Stress in the Local Community - International Disaster Institute, London, 1980.
  
  
• Disaster Planning for Welfare Organisations: Lessons from Australian Disasters: Cyclone, Fire, Bushfire and Hailstorm - Paper to the Symposium on Major Incident Prevention for the City of London Police in London (England) in 1977.
  
  
• 'Lessons from an Australian Disasters' in Social Services Quarterly (1978) 143-146.
  
  
• 'Disaster Intervention in Australia'  in The Journal of the Institute of Civil Defence (1977) 10-32.
  
  
• 'Toowoomba: The Role of an Australian Disaster Unit'  in Disasters (1977) 315-322.
  
  
• 'Toowoomba: Victims and Helpers in an Australian Hailstorm Disasters' in Disasters (1977) 205-216.

Newrisk Limited's principal adviser, Dr Leivesley, has been cited in numerous publications relating to disaster prevention and response, including:

• 'Is missing Malaysian jet the world’s first CYBER HIJACK? Chilling new theory claims hackers could use a mobile phone to take over the controls' by Wills Robinson, Daily Mail Online, 16 March 2014: "Dr Leivesley, who now prepares businesses and governments for potential terrorist attacks, told the Sunday Express: 'There appears to be an element of planning from someone with a very sophisticated systems engineering understanding. This is a very early version of what I would call a smart plane, a fly-by-wire aircraft controlled by electronic signals. She added that once the plane is air-side, you can insert a set of commands and codes which can begin a new set of processes."
  
  
• ''World's First Cyber Hijack: Was Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight Hacked with Mobile Phone' by James Fielding and Stuart Winter in the Sunday Express, 16 March 2014: "British anti-terror expert Dr Sally Leivesley said last night: “It might well be the world’s first cyber hijack."
  
  
• 'Accident Warning on Industrial Risk' by Anonymous,The Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia), 17 September 1992: "Disastrous industrial accidents would keep happening unless governments developed better risk assessment plans, a Brisbane research consultant said yesterday. Dr Sally Leivesley said the incident at Coode Island in Melbourne last year, where millions of litres of dangerous chemicals were released into the air and water, showed the consequences of doing nothing...A new way to assess risks from industrial sites combining disaster theory and computer modelling is being developed in Australia. The system, called Operational Risk Assessment, aims to prevent accidents and protect people and the environment by taking into account design factors on a site, human factors, and the consequences of accidents."
  
  
• 'City seen as Disaster Risk' by Kay Dibeen, The Sunday Mail (Queensland, Australia), 19 June 1988: "A disaster could cripple Brisbane because of a lack of Government planning, an expert warned last week. Dr Sally Leivesley said every government should make sure it had the ability to protect people in an emergency. Such planning should cover shelter, food, medical services, and relocation...[Dr Leivesley] has been preparing make-believe disasters for communities around the world. She thinks of the worst things that can happen and puts an emergency planning team through a gruelling four-hour tabletop exercise. Dr Leivesley looks for organisational weak spots, tests reactions to many different situations and throws in a few tricky problems to be resolved."
  
  
• 'War and Peace Talk Surprises Club' by Anonymous, SEQEB News (Queensland, Australia) (May 1985): "When members of the SEQEB Speakers' Club went to hear a talk on 'War and Peace', most were expecting a commentary on today's world political climate. Instead, they heard research consultant Dr Sally Leivesley discuss stress, a problem that affects people in decision-making positions in many industries around the world. During an informative and entertaining half-hour presentation, Dr Leivesley gave a wealth of information on what people can do to handle stress successfully."
  
  
• 'The Bomb' by Anonymous, The Weekender (Queensland, Australia), 11 February 1983: "According to one Brisbane social scientist, the need for Australian governments at all levels to increase civil defence measures is quite urgent...'The need is urgent', [Dr Sally Leivesley] said, 'because planning takes time. It takes time to train personnel, time to disseminate information to the public. There will not be enough time when the attack begins. Planning has to take into account not just the attack period, but also the long period of recovery.'"

To request Newrisk Limited's assistance in connection with disaster prevention and response or to discuss a tailored package of services, please contact Newrisk Limited directly.