Dive Brief:

• All employers are at risk for disasters like bad weather or a massive data breach. The good news is that, despite that risk, the vast majority of workers (93%) feel their office is a secure place to work, according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.
• That said, the reality may not quite match up with the overall the employee response, as fewer than half of workers (37%) say they have a security guard at their workplace, and 22% are unsure how they would protect themselves in the case of an emergency in their office that posed a physical threat.
• Also, 17% do not feel their workplaces are well-protected in case of a fire, flood or other disaster, and 22% don’t believe their companies have emergency plans in place should such events occur.

Dive Insight

It's clear from the survey that while workers feel safe in their workplaces overall, when it comes to specific threats and how prepared their employer is to handle them, they aren’t as confident. For example, another 31% do not feel their workplace is well-protected from a physical threat from another person, and 41% do not believe their company has an emergency plan in place in case of a physical attack from another person.

On the tech side, 31% do not feel their workplaces are well-protected from a digital hacking threat, and 39% do not feel their companies have an emergency plan in place in the event of a technology security breach.

Rosemary Haefner, CHRO at CareerBuilder, says employers have an obligation to protect their employees with every means possible, and having an emergency plan in place to deal with unforeseen events is part of that. 

“However, an emergency plan is only as good as how well it is communicated," she adds. "It is crucial that employees not only know about this plan, but have easy access to it and participate in regular drills so they know how to protect themselves and others.”