Workplace Violence
Workplace violence isn’t predictable. Discussing “What if” isn’t always easy, but it’s important. You should be discussing "When" not "If." If you found yourself in the middle of a situation with an active shooter, would you be prepared? Would your employees be able to quickly alert the authorities? What about exits or safe hiding locations? By being prepared you can save lives. Workplace violence doesn’t discriminate based on size. Whether your business is large or small, have a plan in place and be ready in the event that tragedy strikes.
The average shooter incident lasts 12 minutes with 37% lasting less than 5 minutes. Every second is important. You and your co workers will be the first responder's with most police forces not arriving until at least 5 or more minutes in. In the heat of the moment, there’s little time to contemplate. By the time the police arrive in 43% of the cases, the crime is over, while 57% of the time the shooting is still underway.
What process does your organization have to get into a building? Do you have a badge process? Some sort of ID? Key perhaps? Or do they just have the run of the building?
What if an unwanted intruder succeeds in accessing your facility? Here are some steps you can take to prepare for such an unfortunate event:
- Install panic alarms that can instantly notify law enforcement of an emergency.
- Install an integrated video system and access control system that can enable rapid building or zone lock-down.
- Have an alert system in place to notify employees in other parts of the building via desktop, “Pop-Up” messages, PA systems, or strobe lights.
- Practice active shooter drills with your employees on a consistent basis.
- Create an Building wide emergency plan for fire, active shooter, weather etc
- Have a Risk Assessment done of your building to know where the bigger risks are
- Know where every exit is in your building to include whether you can safely go out a 2nd floor window
These are just some small things to think about for your personal organization and, to know that while you are playing the "It won't happen here game in your mind" you could be missing the time you can make your building a safer place to work.
Please contact [email protected] for more information on how we can come in and present Active shooter presentations and training. We are also available to come in and do risk assessments for your organizations all along the east coast.