Congressman's Staff was Attacked. What Next?

You may have seen the news this morning: "Man chases woman with baseball bat, then attacks the staff at a congressman's office." Much will be reported, investigated, and learned regarding this horrific situation which occurred in Fairfax, Virginia at Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly's office.

When staff is attacked, lots of questions arise.

But before there is an incident, be sure to familiarize yourself with Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (the "General Duty Clause") which requires an employer to furnish to its employees, "employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees."

Keep the General Duty Clause in the front of your mind as you read on...

Let's take a look at a few questions to ask yourself. Consider how this type of event would impact your business or organization and what you can do about it today to mitigate your risk:

• Are the exterior doors at your facility controlled or open to the public?
• Is there a way to see and talk to visitors as they approach the door but before you let them in?
• Do your secondary doors ever get propped open? Would you know if they were?
• Does your loading dock remain open to the public where deliveries and shipments are received?
• Do you have an intrusion detection system in place that can be armed while employees are inside, before the business opens or after it closes?
• Do you have duress buttons or "panic buttons" as well as emergency call boxes near parking or outdoor walkways?
• Do you have access control in place that requires a card or biometric credential?
• Where should your security start, at he driveway entrance, at the fence, or at the building doors?
• Is the area around your building well lit at night?
• Do you have a way to lock down your building quickly?
• Do your employees know the plan if there is an active assailant in the building or on your campus?
• Do you have a way to vet visitors before they arrive at your facility to be entered into your visitor management system?
• Do you have glass at ground level that could be broken to allow ingress by an assailant?

The list goes on for pages, however employers are mandated to mitigate the risk as much as possible before an incident occurs. Ignoring known risks endangers everyone at a facility.

To help, consulting agencies, like Theseus Professional Services, are available to provide 3rd party vulnerability and risk assessments and make recommendations for actions to take to limit risks. The findings can help employers provide a safer place to work, learn, or shop.

FREE DOWNLOAD: SECURITY RISK ASSESSMENT CONSIDERATIONS GUIDE

Security professionals are constantly looking for innovative ways to secure their facility and provide a safe environment within their budget. And, they are also constantly looking for resources to help them achieve that mission while expert advice is hard to come by. 

Fortunately, we have released a considerations guide that will help security professionals perform their own in-house security risk assessment. 

What's Inside?

This guide is intended to assist you with performing an in-house physical security risk assessment. In many cases, assistance from a third-party expert, like Theseus Professional Services, is required.

Identification of missing or inadequate physical security measures that safeguard assets (people, property, and information) and critical business functions is of paramount importance. The findings of a security risk assessment are used to measure and communicate the level of risk to the organization.

• Process Evaluation
• Threats
• Vulnerability Assessment Highlights
• Electronic Security Systems Considerations
• Site Considerations
• Building Entrances and Exits
• Common Functional Areas
• Building Envelope
• Utilities and Building Services
• Building Systems

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