1. Workplace Violence: Risk on the Rise
There are a variety of reasons why workplace violence risk is rising, but one is the link to domestic violence. There are mixed reports on the impact COVID has had on domestic violence. A report from Johns Hopkins Medicine by Jackie Campbell, Ph.D., R.N. in July 2020 suggests that there is not sufficient evidence that the rate of domestic violence incidence is going up during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the National Library of Medicine concluded that domestic violence has been a considerable issue imposed by the COVID-19 epidemic in a worldwide context. Home confinement led to constant contact between perpetrators and victims, resulting in increased violence and decreased reports. If you side with the National Library of Medicine, the takeaway is that organizations need to be prepared for dynamic threats impacting the workplace such as domestic violence attacks against employees occurring on site. It is surprising how many organizations do not advise employees as part of workplace violence prevention training to confidentially report if a protection order is taken out against an intimate partner. Once alerted to the new risk, the employer can better protect the employee while on site.
2. Hospital Security: A Call to Seize the Moment
During the pandemic, hospitals experienced a lull in security incidents driven by outsiders such as family members and visitors. Many hospitals put a moratorium on visitors and significantly limited entry points which was an overall boost to staff safety and resulted in a reduction of violent incidents precipitated by outsiders. However, the patient against staff violence wasn’t impacted in the same way and continues to be a growing problem in the healthcare industry. We are encouraging our hospital clients to not rush back to a fully open environment and take the opportunity to get proper control of visitor management and access control while everyone is still accustomed to limited entry. Multiple studies show that there is inconsistent enforcement of visitation regulations within hospitals.
Without positive control at the perimeter, nurses are left making visitation decisions and are also the primary individuals enforcing the organization’s visitation policies, which is NOT the right way to manage this. When there are variations in policy from shift to shift, patients and their visitors become frustrated, which can increase the already high risk of workplace violence. Enforcing hospital policies and procedures (e.g., mask wearing, visitation) was found to be a main cause of aggression resulting in workplace violence. It is a commonly held belief that patients are responsible for 80% of workplace violence attacks against healthcare workers. That leaves the remaining 20% in the family and visitor category underscoring the need to establish positive access control and visitor management.
The challenge for healthcare security directors in a post-COVID world is that hospital administrators often fear impacting patient satisfaction by tightening up access controls at all entry points of a hospital. Too often, organizations wait for a serious security incident before implementing needed mitigation strategies. So, the time is now to seize the moment and ensure that hospital administrators develop master plans for enhanced access control, visitor management, and weapons screening.
3. Supply Chain
The supply chain for security equipment that was readily available prior to COVID is now extremely strained. HID and Mercury product shortages are unprecedented. This is creating business opportunities for other companies that provide alternatives to both card readers and panels. There are undoubtedly security system specifiers who pledged their allegiance to Mercury and the openness that it delivered in terms of flexibility of software use. Those specifiers who are expanding existing systems may be locked into staying with HID/Mercury and living with the added surcharges and terms of sales changes which could result in price increases even after a purchase order has been issued for equipment.
For new systems with a short lead time, specifiers who previously would not have considered a non-Mercury-based electronic access control system will be more inclined to consider “proprietary” solutions. In all cases, the unique risk assessment and site requirements should dictate what systems are considered, but some in the specifying community have been reluctant to lock owners into a “rip and replace” situation should they become disillusioned with a security system.
4. Guarding Services and Response to Armed Threats
I have noticed increasing problems in the world of guarding services. COVID and higher crime rates across the U.S. have substantially raised the demand for these services. The common problems that existed pre-COVID have only gotten worse. Low wages can make it difficult to attract and retain personnel. Companies that are in the market for contracted guarding services must determine the appropriate regional wage rate and ensure they meet or exceed that rate. The failure to do so will result in high turnover, poor performance, and dissatisfaction.
Providers are struggling to fill guard positions due to national labor shortages leaving client sites short staffed and diminishing the quality and attentiveness of the persons who are required to work excessive overtime or double shifts.
We are seeing providers asking owners for increases to supplement wages which results in the elimination of the major benefit of outsourcing security--reduced cost. I predict that many organizations will bring security officers in-house to get higher quality and more reliable services.
What can’t be lost in this discussion is the increase in crime in many cities and the role local police agencies play in responding to armed threats. Crime and police response are complex issues that have been impacted by COVID but also by other societal developments that are outside the scope of this article. The intent here is to focus on the outcome and impact on the security risk playbook.
Some Conclusions
Our conclusion is that organizations will need to take a more involved role in protecting themselves and their employees from armed threats which can be done in several ways, but I will focus on two examples here.
Standing Up an Armed Security Capability
Many organizations are adding armed security to their suite of mitigation strategies in the face of increasing crime and delayed police response times. These resources can be sourced from traditional guard companies (though sometimes difficult), specialty guard companies (which are often started by retired police officers and who primarily provide off-duty police), or in-house armed security. When in-house positions are used, there are potential complexities that must be considered:
- Insurance coverage
- Registration with state agencies as an armed guard employer
- Building and managing an armory
- Training and maintaining certification
- Other nonlethal defensive equipment options
Screening for Weapons
The demand for weapons screening technology seems to be on the rise. Facilities such as hospitals, casinos, and large sports and entertainment facilities are increasingly deploying these technologies. There is an array of technologies available today which can allow screening to be done in non-traditional ways with the primary differentiators being the speed at which people are screened and the degree to which people must divest or remove items such as wallets, cell phones, backpacks, or purses for separate screening. There are also wildly variable costs associated with implementing weapons screening technology with some “software as a service” (SaaS) models which have a perpetual operating expense versus buying equipment at a much lower one-time cost. Some of the key issues to consider when deploying weapons screening technology include:
- For what level of weapon do you want to screen? There is a significant impact on efficiency and throughput when you get down to wanting to screen for knives. In facilities that have a lot of improvised weapons internally, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to suffer the productivity impacts of screening for knives. Handguns may be a better threshold.
- What is the volume of traffic that needs to be screened in a set period? This may impact the type of technology you choose and the number of screening lanes you may need to implement. For facilities that are still trying to maintain some level of social distancing, take the manufacturers’ specifications of throughput and throw them out the window.
- Can you tolerate persons being screened having to divest passive non-threatening items which will otherwise be detected as a threat (e.g., cell phones)?
- Staffing. Weapons screening checkpoints require staffing to manage and deal with detections and secondary screening after detection. How will you deal with having to compel a person with a firearm detected to surrender that item or leave the facility? Most people would suggest a need for an armed capability around the screening area to support that process so that is also a cost consideration.
- The value and benefit of an amnesty box. The Patron Screening Best Practices Guide published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security suggests that an amnesty box be placed near the entry of a facility to allow visitors to voluntarily dispose of illegal or prohibited items, like illegal drugs and weapons. In cases where a facility has visitors who may not have a car to which to return a weapon (e.g., visitors who arrive on public transportation), an amnesty box provides a good option so weapons are not hidden in a bush outside the door where a child could find it.
- Special Screening Procedures. At this time, technology will not allow for automated screening of persons under the following conditions:
o Persons in wheelchairs, walkers, and other mobility aid devices.
o Persons with infants in a stroller
o Non-ambulatory patients entering the hospital on a gurney through the ambulance entrance.
- A process for the safe disposition of contraband items discovered.
Whether you believe COVID has completely changed the security/risk playbook for security practitioners or that this is just another seasonal adjustment to risk mitigation, there is no question the delivery of physical security solutions is far different in 2022, and as I see it, the rate of change will only increase in the near future.
