Do You Invest In Your Employees’ Personal Security?
20 December 2020
The world we live in isn’t always as safe as we’d like. The sad truth is that people are often hurt, intentionally or accidentally, every day. While you can’t protect your employees from every possible outcome, you owe it to them and yourselves to at least help them feel safer.
While many businesses push health, safety, and cybersecurity training, there is one area where many come up short. For one reason or another, employee personal security courses tend to go all but ignored.
Today we’re going to discuss why this is a mistake and how these and similar courses can help you and your employees. We’ll review how they can help stop workplace violence and may even save lives.
A Discussion About Workplace Violence
Workplace violence is surprisingly common. The HSE found there were nearly 700,000 violent workplace incidents in 2019 in England and Wales alone.
Of approximately 688,000 violent incidents, 389,000 consisted of threats of bodily harm. However, 299,000 of those original 688,000 incidents consisted of full-on assault.
Of these workplace assaults, over 40 per cent resulted in minor bruising, severe bruising, and/or a black eye for the assaulted party.
If your company operates in the UK, you are legally obligated to act reasonably to prevent the health and welfare of your employees. Beyond this, there is simply the ethical responsibility of protecting those who work under you. As the company decisionmaker, you’re often the last line of defence when it comes to employee safety.
Failing to meet this legal mandate can have serious consequences. Make sure your employees feel they can safely report serious concerns as they arise, and that your building is at least reasonably prepared to handle criminal acts as they arise.
That said, aiming for the legal minimum shouldn’t be your end goal. Whatever your feelings on moral imperatives, employees who feel safe are more productive. Moreover, employees who feel unsafe (especially if they’re assaulted or threatened) are much more likely to leave your company.
Employee Personal Security
Personal security may not be a household phrase everywhere, but it is a simple concept. In essence, it is when a given person is adequately protected against crime and, if one were to occur, can adequately be aided in stopping that crime.
The reality is that most workplaces don’t actually fit that description. They tend to be unprepared when it comes to personal security. Worse, if your workplace is in a low-crime area, your employees may feel protected without actually being safe should a major incident occur.
It is easy to grow complacent if your company doesn’t experience a security incident for a while. However, this is when some of the worst-case scenarios can occur.
Without preparation, your employees may not know how to properly respond to threats or acts of violence. This can result in tolerating unacceptable behaviour or, worse, things escalating to more severe violence.
Personal Security and Conflict Resolution Courses
You need to invest in protecting your employees from violent outcomes. For one, basic workplace security measures like cameras or even security guards can obviously help. But you should be going a step further.
You also can (and should) train your employees to respond intelligently and appropriately to potential threats. For example, teaching them conflict resolutions skills can often help deescalate situations that normally would have elevated to inappropriate threats or actual physical violence.
Most employers lack the expertise to perform this training themselves. This is exactly where companies like Trisat can help. Our security experts have created specially tailored courses to help give your employees the skills they need to make themselves and your workplace a safer, friendlier place.
Our courses range from practical led dynamic classes, to our popular eLearning courses (due to the lockdown) that are modular, mobile-friendly, and can be completed in about 90 minutes. By the end, employees will know the basics of a host of elements integral to personal security, including:
- The S.A.F.E.R. approach
- The basics of situational awareness
- Research-based tips for resolving conflicts peacefully
- Tips for safely working alone at home
Investing in our courses will make your workplace safer, simple as that. The best security prevents incidents before they escalate to anything serious and many of our modules focus on that very issue. All without asking anything unreasonable or dangerous of your employees should conflict arise.
Tailor to Your Employees’ Needs
The above advice and the course we suggest should be broadly applicable but sometimes a company may wish to tailor a course to an employee’s specific needs.
The most obvious example is for employees in the retail or hospitality sectors. These sectors require a lot out of employees in terms of social interaction. In meeting so many new faces each day, the odds of a problem occurring increase.
This very issue is why Trisat offers a course tailored to the needs of employees in these sectors. Our Retail Conflict Resolution Course (RCRC) bundle covers everything an employee in retail or hospitality would want to know to help stay safe.
Our Experts Are Here to Help
Employee personal security is important. Making sure they’ve been taught the basics of personal security and conflict resolution can pay dividends in ways big and small.
Our conflict resolution courses can help turn what would have been a violent situation into one where everyone walks out unharmed. They can help your employees feel safer, work more efficiently, and be prepared for threats should they arise.
If you’re interested in getting more information, feel free to contact us. We offer security courses, run events, and more. We’ve helped thousands already and we’d love to discuss how Trisat can be of benefit to you and your employees too!