SAFETY
Is Your Company Using the Right Strategies to Diffuse this Time Bomb?
Injury-reporting policy in place? Check. Safety-program compliance and enforcement programs in place? Check. Training programs in place and implemented? Check-check. Other organizational checks and balances in place? Check. What can possibly go wrong? According to a survey on
FindLaw.com…a lot! Nearly 10% of adult American workers said they consciously elected not to report their work-related injuries, for fear of being targeted for retaliation. Another 3% said they experienced multiple work- related injuries and chose not to report them for the same reason. The vast majority of the unreported injuries, according to the survey, involved slips and falls, overexertion, caught in machinery and repetitive motion, but they also involved burns and workplace violence. The survey found that men and women were equally likely to say that they had not reported injuries. Bottom line: For every 100 American workers injured on the job, there are approximately 10 who do not bother to report their injuries (at least according to this survey). To avoid becoming this statistic: Foster a strong culture that focuses on where the organizational processes failed and not on where the injured employee failed: Empower each line supervisor and employee with the authority to diagnose and implement preventative process improvements; Foster a strong culture that holds not reporting an injury right up there with stealing from the company in terms of disciplinary action severity; and Establish a process that tracks progress and continuously nourishes the anticipated organizational culture
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Response to Store Shooting Confirms Police Tactics
A deadly shooting at an Indiana grocery store could have been much worse if not for the quick actions of two police officers who relied on training that has become commonplace since the 1999 Columbine shootings. The two officers arrived at the Elkhart store within three minutes and needed less than 60 seconds to fatally shoot a gunman who had killed two people and was threatening a third. But experts still disagree whether patrol officers should confront a shooter immediately or wait for backup, especially if an officer is alone. A decade ago, the Indiana officers might have waited for a specially equipped SWAT team, which was standard practice in many police departments across the country. Training for active-shooter situations has now become routine, including preparing for the possibility that lone officers could be sent to stop a rampage. Many security and law-enforcement professionals agree that quicker responses are needed
as shootings happen more frequently. The nation averaged five active-shooter situations annually between 2000 and 2008. Since 2009, that number has tripled, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The push toward faster responses grew out of the Columbine attack. Even stopping to help victims is out of the question. "Our goal is to get in there and stop that aggressive act, whatever it is or whatever that person is doing, absolutely as fast as possible," said Indiana State Police Sgt. Trent "We don't wait to take the time for other people to be backup."
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Can You Stop a Shooter Before it's Too Late? After every shooting incident and act of public violence, we tend to circle around the same questions: "Who was he? What was her motivation?" And here's what we learned: We don't know the answers because we're not asking the right questions. You can't exactly predict a massacre, but you can spot the signs of someone in mental distress and alert someone to help prevent another tragedy. For starters, if you see something, say something. Recent cases have also exemplified the role of mental illness in motivating perpetrators of violence. "People with serious mental illnesses have a higher rate of violent behavior than the general population and yet, at the same time, their mental illness accounts for only a small percentage of violence in the United States," says Paul Appelbaum, past president of the American Psychiatric Association. But to prevent a crisis from happening in the first place, experts say to pay attention to behavior. Erratic behavior, people speaking in ways that are hard to understanding or expressing delusional thinking are things that should raise your antenna. But most often these patterns are detected by friends and relatives, who must grapple with whether to report a loved one to authorities. Spotting such signs early makes punishment much less likely, says Marisa Randazzo, former chief psychologist for the U.S. Secret Service. As a situation worsens, your options are likely to become fewer and more severe such as arrest or an involuntary psychiatric examination.
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Ready to Respond Security officers are charged with the safety and security of employees, contractors, visitors, and anyone else who comes onto the sites they protect. While there are many threats that security must protect against, one key concern these days is workplace violence. Proper training can help officers detect, deter, and respond to this type of threat. One company uses a five-day training program to prepare security officers to deal with workplace violence and any company
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