September is National Preparedness Month and organizations across the country—like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and Ready.gov—are raising public awareness and urging Americans to better prepare themselves for emergencies or disasters in their communities.
Throughout September, The Power of Preparedness will cover specific actions you can take to enhance your preparedness for workplace violence and active shooter situations.
In Parts One and Two of our September series The Preparedness Playbook, we covered the importance of both identifying your organization’s susceptibility to workplace violence (WPV) with a comprehensive risk assessment and the benefits of building relationships with law enforcement agencies. With those efforts in place and underway, it’s time to take the commitment to preparedness even further by developing or updating your emergency response plan.
Reviewing and updating your emergency operation plan is an essential step to boost not only your preparedness for WPV, but for all kinds of crises. It’s largely why so many organizations across the country, with distinct specialties, are taking part in National Preparedness Month. A well-rounded plan can help safeguard both your employees and assets against today’s threat environment while also highlighting strategies to maintain operational continuity in the face of natural disasters and other emergencies of varying scale.
It Get It In Writing
What’s it take to create an emergency operation plan? We recommend creating a literal preparedness playbook of your own − a manual detailing your organization’s protocols for emergencies likely to threaten your business including active shooter situations and general WPV policies. This manual should outline agreed upon preparedness practices across the board and be inclusive of the entire organization to ensure that everyone is prepared no matter when a crisis may present itself.
Looking at a plan from a TPOP standpoint, your listed procedures should include:
Workplace Violence Reporting – According to CSOonline.com, “violence in the workplace is an issue that…impacts more than half of all American workers.” One of the most critical aspects of protecting your organization against WPV is a clear reporting structure. Each and every employee should be encouraged to discreetly report threats to HR or another managerial contact. Identifying threats both internal and external by spotting and reporting behavioral indicators or security anomalies can prevent violence before it happens.
Decision Making Structure – In the event of an emergency—WPV-related or otherwise—who is in charge? Nailing the chain of command to determine authorization for ordering actions like lockdowns or evacuations can help mitigate confusion during an incident.
Ingress and Egress – We discussed this briefly in Part Two. Not only should your law enforcement contacts know the layout of your facility, but your staff should know their options for secure places to hide and how to get in or out of the building quickly and safely as well.
Emergency Resources – The location and accessibility of medical equipment and supplies—particularly first aid kits—should be readily known to assist speedy response in the aftermath of an incident.
Regular Training – Finally, ongoing education is a must. Training your staff to understand current risks and develop skills like situational awareness and de-escalation techniques is vital to building and maintaining your organization’s preparedness culture; first aid training and CPR courses also provide important guidance for incident response.
While implementing one of these three methods can be beneficial, performing all three can result in a comprehensive plan that will have your organization truly prepared to take on today’s risk environment. Ready to get started? TPOP can help. Contact us today and let us help you put The Preparedness Playbook in action.
With expertise including Run-Hide-Fight, active shooter preparedness and response, situational awareness, de-escalation techniques, and more, The Power of Preparedness provides critical guidance that can save lives. Contact us to learn more.