When Organizations Invest in Preventative Security Measures, They Can Secure Liability Protections

The kind of news that is delivered everyday serves as a grim reminder of the escalating violence across the U.S. Evidently, the need for proactive measures to ensure safety has never been more pressing. Such violence is not limited to any particular locale. It’s actually permeating in so many different areas once considered safe that the mere showing of an active shooter video, or an occasional threat management exercise won’t suffice. Today's security needs are much greater.

Organizations now require a comprehensive approach, starting with a solid policy foundation. This includes training sessions that every department of a company or institution has to be a part of. This type of strategy also acts as a preventive action, and bolsters an organization's security measures by way of its ability to protect itself from legal action as well. As violence transcends the boundaries of workplaces, solutions must also extend into societal realms.

These trends are alarming experts like Randall Spivey, CEO and Founder of the Center for Personal Protection and Safety (CPPS), who provides insights into where to get started on enterprise-wide violence prevention and response programs. At GSX 2023, Spivey highlighted where and how companies can get started in approaching better security measures discussing programs and standards.

Spivey's Thoughts on Security Measures

On Violence Trends

“You can’t turn on the news any day and not see some type of extreme violence scenarios happening and not just inner city, but all over the country. It’s happening in venues and companies and schools and churches, houses of worship. There’s really no area that’s immune from the violence. It’s increasing.”

Obtaining Buy-In for Violence Prevention Programs

“The first one I’m gonna be doing is how do you get buy-in as a security leader? How do you get buy-in from your corporate leadership or organizational leadership on funding and resources for your violence prevention programs? Some of those, for example, would be having a clear roadmap of where you wanna take the program. So, we’re gonna talk about what does that look like and what’s covered in the standard?"

Utilizing Standards and Exercises

“And that’s where the ASIS standards come in handy because the workplace violence prevention and intervention standard lays out a really good roadmap for security professionals on how you establish and develop and roll out an enterprise-wide violence prevention and response program.”

“I will look at some other things that I’ve seen in the past organizations do to be able to get the buy-in like creating tabletop exercises and sitting with the leadership and bring them in.”

“And what I found is historically, that’s been very effective to actually see the roadmap, see the gaps, and then have a solid plan on how to make an effective program for the entire company.”

Importance and Holistic Approach

“It’s becoming an increased focus and trend for a couple of reasons. Number one, violence is increasing.

"So, that’s a major trend that we’re seeing. And the other big trend, as I mentioned earlier about the standard from ASIS, is they’re not looking just for an active shooter video. They’re not looking just for a threat management exercise.”

“The holistic program is outlined in that standard.”

Legal Implications and Liability Protection

“Doesn’t mean that you can’t still have an incident occur, but you’ve done your due diligence.”

“And what I’ve seen personally is that it can enhance your liability protection because we’re seeing another trend is major lawsuits when these events happen.”

“We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s a change. That’s a shift that we’ve seen happen over the last couple of years.”

Continual Training and Its Necessity

“Like most things, your knowledge and skillset of violence prevention is a perishable skill. So, it needs to be in front of the employees on an annual basis. And in order to do that, it’s gonna have to be some kind of online training because you’re not gonna have the resources if you’re a large company to be able to do in-person training for 20,000 people every single year. So, it’s one of the things I’m seeing to keep it relevant and fresh is a continuation training, continual training for the threat management team, and then making it, like I said, a societal thing.”

Broader Societal Implications

“So you’re starting to see the companies and organizations take this as not just a workplace issue, but a societal issue. So, the information we provide for them works when they’re walking around downtown Dallas. How do I train our kids? How do we train our people in our communities, not just isolated in the workforce?”