How Should My Business Plan for Active Shooter Incidents in the Workplace?

Active shooter events are unfortunately part of our world, and employers are becoming increasingly worried about how an active shooter may impact their workplace.

Why is this data important? It shows that employers need to be aware of active shooter preparedness and prevention. However, preparing your business for an active shooter incident can be overwhelming, and there are several obstacles that may prevent your business from creating a plan of action. To properly overcome these obstacles, it is important to know what these obstacles are and what are some best practices when creating and implementing your active shooter plan.

Obstacles for Creating an Active Shooter Plan

While some companies may understand why there is a need to prepare for an active shooter incident, they still will not create a plan. There can be many reasons why, but some of the most common reasons are listed below:

The employer does not have the knowledge or resources to create an effective active shooter plan

The employer has more pressing issues it needs to address to just run their business on a daily

Basics

Companies would hear about an active shooter incident on the news and wanted to create a plan of action but got stalled before they actually created procedures. By properly prioritizing the necessity of preparing for an active shooter, companies can eliminate this obstacle.

Active shooter preparedness should be treated just like any other risk management issue.

Employers need to ensure they are doing everything they can to prevent their business, employees, members, and patrons from being impacted by a violent act. Until employers can dedicate that commitment, their business will not be able to move forward with creating an active shooter mitigation plan.

Below are some best practices to follow when creating your plan.

Create an active shooter plan

Just as likely you can’t eliminate the risk of an active shooter incident occurring – and the trauma and potential litigation that could arise after an incident occurs – you can educate your organization on how to react if an active threat does happen. Below are some best practices employers can follow when establishing and executing your active shooter plan:

Know your resources

It’s safe to say that most companies will not have the ability to have the knowledge necessary to create an active shooter plan internally. However, that does not mean employers do not have resources they can utilize to create a plan that will work for their company.

There is local law enforcement, fire departments, trade associations, and the Department of Homeland Security that can all aid in providing your company with what it needs to know about active shooter incidents. These organizations can provide your business information and resources that have been gathered to help your business prepare for an active shooter situation.

An example would be your local law enforcement agency helping your business with active shooter drills that simulate a real active shooter event.

Tailor your plan to your business

All active shooter plans will have steps that are similar, but your plan should be tailored to how your business operates. What may work at a manufacturing plant may not be feasible for a non-profit that works with children.

Your plan of action should be revised during your risk assessment and carefully looked at to ensure your plan addresses ways to mitigate an active shooter specifically for your business.

Active shooter plans should also be included in your company’s business continuity plan, risk management plan, workplace violence prevention program, and workplace violence policies. Your workplace violence prevention program and policies are where most of your planning should take place. Those programs/policies include:

Workplace violence prevention program

Your workplace violence prevention program, which should be part of your overall safety and health program, is meant to proactively prevent violence from occurring in the workplace. Your prevention program should outline ways to create workplace appropriate policies to prevent and react to workplace violence. It should include specific strategies to prevent workplace violence, be scaled to the size of your business and can be modified to deal with certain situations.

Zero-tolerance workplace violence policy

In most situations, the risk of immediate violence can be prevented from occurring at work if the employer takes the correct actions to prevent it. Nothing protects your employees more than your company having a zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence. This policy should include a clear promise to protect all employees from any kind of violence in the workplace. Your policy should state that it is a zero-tolerance policy. If someone breaks the policy once, that is cause for immediate termination.

Train your employees

Having a written active shooter plan that incorporates your business’ policies and procedures is crucial, but so is training your employees on what to do if an active shooter situation occurs. Not only should your business provide active shooter training to your in-office staff, but training should also be provided for employees that work remotely or in the field.

Training is crucial because the basics of active shooter safety apply to any situation whether it be on-site or off-site (i.e. know your escape routes and have an evacuation plan meets, identify what a threatening situation may look like, etc.).

Your training and drill calendar should be updated to accommodate any changes to the business or policies and updated to reflect how employees handled past active-shooter drills. Remember when creating and updating these drills that if you have at-risk populations that may not be able to evacuate (i.e. children, elderly, dementia / cognitively impaired, individuals with disabilities) your plan should reflect how you will keep these individuals safe during an active shooter incident.

When reviewing these tips, keep in mind that every business’s active shooter plan will be different. Every employer needs to ensure their plan can evolve as their business does. This will allow businesses to practice their plan, and protect what they care about most, their employees.

Active Shooter Plan Tips Takeaways

There has been an increase in mass shooting incidents in recent years

Active shooter prevention should be treated just like any other risk management problem.

Creating a written active shooter plan allows you to set policies and procedures.

Safety Counseling Can Help Your Business with Active Shooter Training in Albuquerque

If your business is in Albuquerque, Safety Counseling can provide your business with Active Shooter Training. Call 505-881-1112 to sign up for its next Active Shooter Training course.