As I travel to various companies, I am always surprised by the lack of training or discussion of safety and security in company office situations.
A few months ago, I was asked to do a full safety and security update for a company.
We had a companywide meeting in the conference room where we talked about where employees in the building would go for fire, tornado, and active shooter situations.
I asked the question, “In case of a fire, where would you go?” Of course, the easy answer for everyone was “outside!”
After a brief chuckle, I mentioned that maintenance was at the back of the building, and sales and other office staff were in the front. How would people in the back know that the people in the front got out, or vice versa?
That’s where things got serious. This had not been discussed before. I was disappointed to hear that people in the building were not going to head to the same location so an accurate head count could be taken, so that people all knew everyone was out, that nobody was in the pit in the shop and didn’t hear the yell of “fire” or that someone wasn’t in the restroom up front.
More ‘what ifs’
Where the discussion really got scary was when we talked about the “what if” a tornado had been bearing down on the building. I had already done a thorough walk through the facility, so I knew the layout well. I said, “There is a tornado spotted and headed in this direction. Where do you go?”
People calmly answered, “We all go to the IT room in the middle of the building!” Well, this office structure had a full set of large windows along the entire front of the building and the front offices were an open space. I asked, “Are you sure you want to go to the IT room?”
Everyone in the room said yes with confidence. Suddenly, the IT person said, “No, we can’t go in there. The computers and servers in there were overheating because people kept shutting the door and the room would get too hot, so we took the door off that room.” I said, “Yes, you all would be going to that room, and the last people in the door would be hit with the flying glass that would explode into the office.”
I’m sure there would be serious injury or worse because this has not been discussed recently. In 2021, an EF4 tornado struck the town of Mayfield, Kentucky, killing 57 people and injuring more than 500. Many of those deaths occurred at a local manufacturing plant. People were never told where to go in case of a tornado, and many ran to their cars, which were picked up and tossed about, killing those inside of them.
Start training on first day
Often when I visit new clients, I will ask who is the employee most recently hired. I then ask that person if they were trained in where to go in any type of emergency. I have yet to find someone who has told me that yes, it was included in their onboarding training. If you were to come to your office, would your newest person be able to tell me?
Some things to consider in your training:
- Do all employees know where to go for all types of emergencies?
- Have you reached out to your local law enforcement to have them discuss active
- shooter situations in your building?
- What types of emergencies could exist for your location? You may not have
- tornadoes, but could you have earthquakes, or hurricanes?
- When did you last have a companywide discussion about emergency situations
- and put the plan into practice?
- Do you have a system for your employees who leave the building to make sure they tell at least one other person where they are going, including ownership?
- In the event of a fire, you don’t want to have people attempting to go back into the building to try and find a missing person, when that person had gone to the bank 20 minutes ago.
The middle of an emergency is not the time to start doing your training!
Mark Szyperski owns On Your Mark Transportation, a company that provides transportation consulting, marketing expertise, motorcoach training, and bus website development, among other services.
