It is a sad fact of life that mass shootings are becoming a daily occurrence in the United States. In fact, it is estimated one mass shooting per day occurs in the US, and this fact is making a lot of people more aware of what is going on around them. As an employer, it is up to you to do what you can to keep your employees safe while they are at your workplace, and right now it is timely for you to take a closer look at what security protection you have in place for them. Keep these thoughts in mind as you do a walk-through of your commercial premises, as there are no doubt areas where you could improve.
The Front Door
As a business owner, it is important you remember not all mass shootings are terrorist related. Any industry that has the potential for upset customers could at some stage be confronted by a disgruntled person. The list of shootings where the person with the gun was a very unhappy ex-worker is not a small one, so security must be at the forefront of your mind when you look at the entrance to your business.
Most businesses have only one entrance, which is the front door. So what can you do to increase the safety at this point of your offices? There are two easy steps you can take right now, and all you need to do is contact a locksmith for help.
- If you are in a business that has a high risk chance of aggravated customers, for example a law office, consider locking the front door so it can only be opened by one of your front line staff using an override button. The locked door can also be accessed by your employees using either a number keypad, or by using a swipe card. This is a small inconvenience for strangers, but gives the person at the override switch a chance to ascertain why they are there.
- Add a security camera at the entrance of the front door if you plan to keep it unlocked. While it will not physically deter a person who wishes to harm your staff, having it monitored by a person located within your offices could give you vital time to clear many people out of harm's way if they see danger coming through the door.
Office Doors
How many offices or rooms within your business have locks on their doors? It is not something that was previously considered necessary as most confidential information is locked within the filing cabinets rather than locked within a room. However, having a commercial locksmith from a company like http://www.suburbanlock.com come through and put locks on the inside of each room door could potentially save your employees in the event of trouble.
In an active shooter situation, you have to choose between running, hiding, or fighting back. If you are going to hide, you want to make sure you make it as difficult as possible for the armed individual to get to you. An analysis of mass shootings in 2015 shows that 70% of them are over within five minutes or less. They may be the longest five minutes of your life, but the shooter is likely to move on to look for easy targets rather than spend five minutes trying to get through a locked office door.
While these may seem like relatively small changes to make, they are a positive step towards reducing the number of fatalities if an active shooting situation was ever to occur at your place of business, or even close by.
It is no longer a wise idea to think that it just won't happen to you, because unfortunately you don't have to look hard to see that mass shootings are a growing problem. Take advantage of your business slow down over the end-of-year break to get your business premises more secure, and move forward with peace of mind that you have done what you can to protect the people who work for you.
