The Balance Between Safety And Opinion

The Struggle Between Implementing New Safety Measures And The Shadow Of Suspicion It May Cast On Your Employees. 

No matter the size of the company or the product or service offered, you must accept the fact that workplace violence is real, and precautions must be put in place. No good decisions are ever made unprepared and while the events are unraveling. With that, we understand the stigma that comes with not only talking about bad situations but actually building programs that acknowledge the fact that they could happen. The fact is, the world we live in no longer allows you to close your eyes, bury your head in the sand and say, “Nope, it can’t and won’t happen here.” It can and it may. The question you must ask yourself is that if it does, have you done all that you can to protect yourself, your staff, and your facility?

In talking and working with companies across the State of Connecticut, a prominent concern for many of them is, “How will this look to my employees if we put certain safety features in place?” The concern was specifically, will it appear as if we don’t trust them and if so, how will that affect morale, dedication, workflow, etc.? It’s a common sense initial concern, but in our opinion, it holds no weight. When you do roll out a new safety protocol, policy, procedure, or even an emergency response team, we suggest you do it as a brand release. Every company and business and even individuals have a brand, and as we know, the importance of that brands image is top of the list. By informing employees that the release of such programs is simply to make them safer, make their working environment better, healthier and more productive, it helps the buy-in factor.

Like any other program or new initiative instituted at the company, it is imperative that the resources and motivating factors be delivered to all employees in a concise and effective way. If you don’t make this step a priority, the program will fail before it gets started, never mind in the face of a crisis.

Understand that this is not an overnight change or something that happens with the click of a button. It takes time, commitment, and understanding that the time is now to prepare, and you must commit to your actions and take the time to get it in place appropriately. It legitimately begins with the view of your facility from the street, to the newest, greenest employee on your team.

Facility Safety Management - The Secret Service protects the White House on a basic three tier schedule: How safe is it from the roadside, from on property, and from within the property? And simply put, we believe that that is the approach you need to take as well. Let’s be clear, there is no magic button here. No magic wand we can wave to protect you from all terrible circumstances. No magic barrier to keep all the bad guys out. But, by taking the time to implement as many of these strategies as possible, each will help your cause.

The 6 Safety Principles is a way to begin gauging where your facility stands and how much work you have to do. Take the time to do a full analysis across your property, checking off what’s good, what’s bad, and what you can do to improve it. On the last page of this Ebook is a checklist that you can print off and use to help the process.

Before we get into those 6 Safety Principles, let us understand the criminal element. Take a minute to sit back and review your daily routine, for example: your alarm goes off each morning, you’re up, maybe a little exercise, or just down to the kitchen with a cup of coffee and the morning news. From there a shower, tie goes on, you kiss your family goodbye, and off to work you go. Pretty much being able to predict how the day goes before you get in. The day goes by, home for dinner, tuck the kids in, maybe watch a little television and off to bed you go, to start all over tomorrow.

The bad guy has a routine too. Daily, nightly, and even when he is supposed to be sleeping, he’s thinking of ways to take your stuff, hurt your family, get high, or just be a nuisance to our society. To put it mildly, he's a difficult person, unlike you and me, (although we can all be difficult at times) it’s his way or no way. His constitution is real, his motivating factors unlike any others and his impulse to do what’s wrong, is uncontrollable. For most bad guys, they are lazy, impulsive, and unreasonable. They look for crimes of opportunity, weak unmanaged or ignored targets, and potential victims that will put up the least fight. Of course, there are others that are more diabolical, meaner, more focused, more patient, and more violent, but there’s no way to really figure out which one you’re facing. So you must plan for both. 

How Safe Is Your Company? - Conducting a workplace security analysis is the first step in securing or helping to secure any facility. This can be done by implementing a Workplace Violence Prevention Team or contracting with an outside agency to do it for you. The analysis is an initial and periodic physical inspection of the workplace and it surroundings. These inspections will identify the hazards, conditions, operations, and situations that could lead to violence. All observations and corrections should be documented and kept on file.

Now, consider the following 6 Safety Principles. They won’t absolutely 100 percent protect you from the bad guy, but they most certainly will help.

Safety Principles:   

1.     Territorial Reinforcement

·        Keep and maintain your premises and landscaping; this shows an alert and active presence

·        Avoid razor and cyclone wiring

·        Post security system signs at all access points

·        Attract larger number of desired users; they act as inadvertent surveillance

·        Make sure to clearly define public and private areas

 

 

2.     Surveillance

·        Keep window shades up and not blocked by advertising

·        Remember that foot traffic past your location can also work as inadvertent surveillance assets

·        Keep walkways, parking areas and any blind spots Around building well lit. Avoid glare, blind spots, or lights being too bright

·        Utilize fences and nature; but be sure not to block surveillance

·        Do your best to have your entry point observed; if not all the time, then as often as possible.

 

3.     Access Control – Landscape design, walkways, clear signage and entryways allow you to control human flow patterns.

·        Make them go the way you want them to go

·        Make structures and nature flow people to a single, clearly established entry point

·        All entry points need to be controlled by surveillance; this will compliment mechanical access control measures

 

4.     Maintenance – Keeping a clean, presentable, well attended property automatically sends a message that people are paying attention

·        There is so much to be said about the broken window theory; without it, it shows acceptance of disorder and the lack of control

·        A clean property shows ownership and pride and it allows better surveillance by keeping sight lines clear

·        All of the above gives the perception that if you do wrong, you will be caught

 

5.     Activity support

·        Increases the number of users in an area

·        More users mean more inadvertent surveillance; remember there are safety in numbers

·        Place signs like “Children Playing” or “Crime Watch”; it shows that people are paying attention.

 

6.     Target Hardening

·        Make the target more trouble than it's worth

·        Audit doors, locks, and keys

·        Have thick, solid windows

·        Keep merchandise away from windows

·        Have an alarm system

·        Use landscape design and utilize the nature around your facility

·        Have lighting everywhere

 

Your upper management (or the equivalent thereof) must be the ones held accountable as the driving force behind a safe working environment. They must be given the authority to enforce the policy, protocol, and expectations set forth at the programs initial roll out. However, they need to be given all the tools to do that. You must present to them clearly what is expected of them and give them training and resources to be confident in their actions. 

What’s Expected Of Your Managers:

?        To develop an open and trusting relationship with those they are responsible for. With this environment, it helps with identifying and pre-empting a bad situation before it happens.

?        To immediately respond to any act of violence or aggressive, intimidating or bullying behavior.

?        Managers must react, respond, and handle these situations at the appropriate level.

?        Report each incident to the appropriate person, clearly listing the parties involved, a summary of the issue itself, and what (If any) disciplinary action was taken. This must be done in a timely and responsive fashion.

?        Perform a continuing observation of those involved and offer any and all support services.

Consider the implementation of a Workplace Violence Prevention Team

This team is a multi-discipline team made up of employees, supervisors, mangers, and top management from the following areas, departments, or outside services:

?        Operations

?        Human Resources 

?        Safety and Health

?        Risk Management

?        Legal Counsel

?        Security/Building Operations

?        Union

?        Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

 

The team has the authority and responsibility to:

?        Assess the workplace violence vulnerability of the organizations location(s), building(s), operations, and then provide recommendations

?        Develop and implement the workplace violence prevention policy and program

?        Develop and implement employee training programs on workplace violence 

?        Implement and document written plans for investigating all reports of workplace violence incidents

?        Conduct yearly audits of the overall effectiveness of the Workplace Violence Prevention Program

?        Access to the following records:

o  OSHA Injury and Illness Log

o  Incident reports

o  Police reports

o  Training records

Workplace Security Analysis - The Workplace Violence Prevention Team should conduct an initial and periodic physical inspection of the workplace and its surroundings. These inspections will identify the hazards, conditions, operations, and situations that could lead to violence. All observations and corrections should be documented and kept on file.

Establish a Written Workplace Violence Prevention Policy. The workplace violence prevention policy statement should be clearly written. It may stand alone or be incorporated in the organizations safety and health policy. The document forms the basis for the workplace violence prevention program and must be signed and dated by the organization’s senior management (and union president, if applicable). For this policy to be effective, it must be communicated to the entire workforce on a continual basis; this includes all new hires and annually for the general workforce.

Get These Tips Out To Your Employees:

?        Telephone Threats 

           1. Remain calm and take the threat seriously.

           2. Take notes of everything that is said or heard in the background. Try to                                          

                 get the person to identify himself or herself... 

           3. If the threat appears to be imminent, pass a note to someone                            

                 requesting them to call the police. 

           4. If the threat does not appear to be imminent, the individual who                               

                 received the call will notify their supervisor, the Human Resources                 

                 Department, or the Workplace Violence Prevention Team.

?        Written Threats 

1.     If a written threat is received through the U.S. mail system or the                              

internal office mail, keep the envelope and the written threat. Do not permit anyone to handle it. If possible, find a larger envelope and the evidence into it. 

           2.    Print a copy of a threat received by e-mail. 

           3.    Report the threat to the supervisor, the Human Resources Department,                                                        

                    or the Workplace Violence Prevention Team.

?         Face-to-Face Client/Customer Threats 

1.     Remain calm. Do not argue or take any actions that may be viewed as                       

threatening to the alleged offender. Implement verbal diffusion                                 techniques. 

2.     Provide the alleged offender with options, like 'This or that can be done                    

for you.” 

3.     If at all possible, keep some object between you and the alleged                                  

offender. 

           4. Do not try to prolong the conversation. 

           5. Remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible and report                          

                 the workplace violence incident.

Myself and my staff have been involved directly with companies, from the start up level, not-for-profits, and to for-profit companies bringing in big dollars. One thing that we’ve learned is that management, human resources, and owners don’t like to think about the bad guy or bad things happening. The down and dirty fact is that it can happen, it will happen again, and there’s just no magic button to hit to immediately protect yourself, your family, and your staff. Take the time to implement some of these procedures. Do some research to be sure that you are doing all that you can to protect your people. Walk your facility or have someone you trust do it for you. Solve the potential issues today, because tomorrow it might simply be too late.

"By building the confidence of your people, you’ll in turn build the courage and the sense of family and unity. There is safety in numbers. Take the time to show them that it’s important to you.”

Chris Marciano

CEO/Founder, Prepare To Act, llc