To help you better understand the risks of workplace violence and active shooter incidents, and to assist you in preparing for a life threatening situation, Titan wanted to pass along the following information.  

Prepare

• Create a plan of action to set forth for a workplace violence or active shooter event.
  • This plan must be thoroughly communicated with each employee through writing and in-person during a company wide meeting.
  • Going over this plan at least once a year, or every 6 months, will help employees understand the severity of an active shooter situation and keep them prepared in case it ever occurs in their company.
  • The plan needs to include a step-by-step process of what to do during the crisis (where to go, where to escape/hide, etc.) and what to do afterwards.
  • It is also helpful to have safe rooms identified and an escape plan set in place, so that unharmed employees know the closest exits, and if possible, can flee the scene and alert the authorities.
• When faced with an active shooter situation, it is necessary for leadership of the company to be prepared to answer questions and provide employees with directions.

Recovery

• After the crisis, it is likely that the company will not be able to operate for a period of time, in some cases, even a couple weeks or months.
  • Designate an off-site location for employees to meet and discuss business operations.
• Upon hearing about the incident, the media will want to report the event, and share the tragedy with the public.
  • Leadership of the company needs to have questions and answers pre-planned to use as a guideline for speaking with the media.  
  • This will show that the company was crisis-prepared and eliminate any discrepancies the public may have about the event.
  • Faulty information about the crisis could be communicated by those outside of the company, and information about the crisis must be reported accurately to the public.
  • Social media outlets can also be used to communicate with the public about the event.

Report

• Companies need to create a report after the crisis to discuss the events that occurred.
  • This will allow for a better understanding of the events that took place for those employees that were not involved.
  • It will also help to better prepare for the crisis in the future.

Overall, a company exposed to an active shooter situation is inevitably going to face challenges, preparation is the key to addressing these challenging situations.  Click here to view the Active Shooter Recovery Guide from DHS.

Click here to view our previous post on Preventing and Reacting to Workplace Violence.

Tags: Active Shooter Preparedness