Companies say active shooters are top security threat, but few are prepared

Dive Brief:

Three-quarters of respondents to a survey by Everbridge, Inc. said active shooter situations are the top safety threat their organizations are preparing for, coming ahead of concerns such as natural disasters, cyberattacks and supply chain disruptions. Almost two-thirds reported, however, that they have never run an active shooter drill. The 2018 Active Shooter Preparedness Report is based on responses from 630 organizations.
Additionally, 54% of those surveyed said they had not conducted active shooter education and only 15% increased physical security spending in the past two years. A little more than one-third of respondents said they plan to increase physical security spending in the future.
The enterprise safety applications company said the results of the most recent study compared to a study it conducted in 2016 show a corporate environment with increased security awareness that has not led to increased preparedness efforts.

Dive Insight:

Workplace violence is starting to show up as one of the top HR challenges. A survey by XpertHR revealed HR professionals named it as one of their top four concerns for 2019.

Concerns about safety and security are a natural response to the reports of shootings and other forms of violence taking place in the workplace and around the world. Employers can prepare by having a well-communicated disaster preparedness plan in place. Such plans often include escape-to-safety routes, temporary shelter locations, notification procedures and communication command centers.

A workplace shooting last year at Youtube's California headquarters drew criticism about how independent contractors were treated when it was discovered that they didn't get alerts as quickly. Seventy percent of the respondents to the Everbridge study said their top concern during an active shooter event is communicating and confirming the safety of employees because most active shooter events are over in less than 10 minutes. Employees (80%) said they wanted notification in seconds, while most companies (two-thirds) said notifications would take minutes. Tracey Reinhold, Everbridge's Chief Security Officer, said in a statement that ignoring the need to have a reliable system in place to locate and communicate with employees, responders and other local officials and not practicing an organization-wide response to such a situation are behaviors that show that improvements can be made.