We know that 70% of active shooters walk in the front door. How do we protect those that are the first contact? This one is going to sound a little crazy, but when you think about it, if a disaster is walking in the front door looking to shoot massive amounts of people the first one they will encounter is the receptionist.  How do you give them some level of protection to duck out of the way of bullets? We hope that you realize that the laminated particleboard desk they are ducking under does not stop a single round fired from a gun.

We realize wrapping them in Kevlar and sticking them behind bullet proof glass does not project the kind of open and friendly corporate culture you would like to present to your clients.  We have a low-tech and low cost way of protecting these employees that most will never be aware of.  It starts with the desk.  It needs to be one where you cannot see under it from the front.  To complete the project you will need some plywood and several 50 lbs bags of play-sand from the hardware store.  Take the bags of sand and stack them on the inside of the desk against the front wall panel.  Second have the plywood cut to the size of the opening of the desk and place against the back of the sand bags.  Have someone from maintenance or a handyman do the cutting and even painting of the wood to match the underside of the desk.  For less than $100 you have turned the bottom of the desk into a bulletproof protected area that your employee and duck into upon the first sign of a threat.  Will it 100% protect them? No, but it will give them a chance which is 1000% better than before. We will post step by steps pictured instructions at a later date. 

For ideas like this or a detailed emergency plan for your organization/facility please contact us at Invictus Consulting, LLC.

Want to know where most active shooter incidents happen? According to the FBI's latest study which measured the active shooter incidents in the USA between 2000 and 2013 we know the following:

• Out of all the incidents 45.6% occurred in areas of commerce. These include businesses open to pedestrian traffic, closed to pedestrian traffic and malls.
  

• Educational environments were the second largest segment with 24.4% of the incidents.
  

Startling facts for those in business and educational environments.  Need an active shooter emergency response plan?  We at Invictus Consulting LLC specialize in assessing your site and developing a specific plan for your facility with your organizations culture in mind.  Contact us to learn more.

Do you have a plan in mind about what to do when something horrible happens?  Just this week these two tragedies have happened…and the week is only half way through.

Gunman walks into hospital and kills doctor then himself:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/20/justice/boston-hospital-shooting/index.html

A man on a bus starts stabbing the driver and passengers:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/middleeast/israel-attack/index.html

Sadly incidents like these and the Paris shootings seem to be the new norm.  So much so that the horrific-ness of these acts seems to be lost on the general public as the news cycle is so fast that they are pushed off our radar almost as fast as they happen. 

Take a moment and think about what you would do if something that jeopardizes your safety happens upon you.  Formulate a plan for different scenarios.  Having some plan is better than not having a plan at all.  When confronted with a life threatening event the human brain does funny things. For some it locks up from shock as it attempts to register just what is going on.  A trick to prevent this is to already have a plan that your brain can “fall back” or rely upon.

I know it is easy to say “those kind of things only happen to other people and will never happen to me!” And yes, statistically you are correct. The odds of it happening to you specifically are slim, however incidents and disasters that are out of our control happen to “regular people” all the time.  Ask those who were in Boston to watch a marathon. Or you can ask me, the writer of this little post, who happened to be having a good time at the 1996 Olympics when 200 yards away some crazy decided to blow up a bomb.

You never know what can happen. Have a plan. Contact Invictus Consulting LLC for assistance on developing your organizations emergency response plan.

Why do you need to hire a consultant? Here I will discuss the two main reasons we run into.

First, could you perform in house all the tasks that hiring one of our consultants will provide? Probably, yes. Often we find that most people tasked with this subject are very knowledgeable, able and capable.  The problem is they do not have the time and resources to devote solely to the task.  Some have even started the project on a couple of occasions only to be distracted by other pressing daily tasks of their position.  In addition, organizations do not have the money to hire a full time person to complete this task as the project is not long term in nature.  Especially a full time person with the experience we have.

The second main reason as to why you need to hire a consultant for your risk management needs is that the only way to have the most thorough and complete plan is to have a third party set of experienced eyes look into the problem.  It is easy to get distracted in an organization and not be able to “see the forest for the trees.”  Our fresh perspective will bring new light to issues and resolutions. 

Enter the consultant. We specialize in focusing on the problem and working out solutions that you, the client, can take action on.  Upon meeting with you, we determine an acceptable timeline and deliver a final action plan. We make it quick, easy, and complete.  Contact us and let Invictus Consulting LLC know how we can help you.

We here at Invictus Consulting LLC would like to wish all of you a happy Dr. Martin Luther King Day.

Today’s Friday Factoid is the top ten OSHA violations for 2014. Do you know how compliant you are on any OSHA related requirements regarding your work environment? (Taken directly from the United States Department of Labor website for violations in 2014. https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html )



1.    Fall protection, construction (29 CFR 1926.501)

2.    Hazard communication standard, general industry (29 CFR 1910.1200)

3.    Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (29 CFR 1926.451)

4.    Respiratory protection, general industry (29 CFR 1910.134)

5.    Powered industrial trucks, general industry (29 CFR 1910.178)

6.    Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (29 CFR 1910.147)

7.    Ladders, construction (29 CFR 1926.1053)

8.    Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment, general industry (29 CFR 1910.305)

9.    Machinery and Machine Guarding, general requirements (29 CFR 1910.212)

10.  Electrical systems design, general requirements, general industry (29 CFR 1910.303)

We at Invictus Consulting LLC perform OSHA audits for companies frequently. Are you unsure of what your industry’s regulations are? Do you want to know your exposure? Contact us, we will be glad to help. Don’t wait to find out when it is too late.

We have presented the need for an active shooter plan to many different companies and have noticed an underlying theme when the management or decision makers are from outside the U.S.  This is seen as an “American” problem.

Regardless of where you politically/ideologically fall with regards to the 2nd Amendment arguments, we as Americans (U.S. Citizens) are widely viewed as gun toting crazies by other parts of the globe.  Sort of a mixture of John Wayne and Rambo. This opinion often carries over into a bias against the need to for an active shooter plan. 

We are all aware of the shootings in Paris last week.   Following is a link that contains information regarding several types of “spree killings” and is broken out by different continents.  Rather alarming information.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rampage_killers

Having traveled the globe we can tell you that great people are everywhere.  Sadly a universal truth among humanity is that a certain portion of the population are the exact opposite, and look to actively hurt others.  People that want to do harm will find ways to do it.

We have fire emergency plans which drastically reduce the loss of life in an emergency.  We have inclement weather plans (tornado, hurricane, tsunami) which drastically reduce the loss of life in an emergency. Both of those scenarios have a small statistical chance of actually happening to you. But we prepare to be safe and prudent.  Should the disaster of a crazed killer not garner that same attention?

Office or school place mass killings are not just an American problem. We at Invictus Consulting LLC contend that having no plan is planning to fail.  Failure in this area can mean the lives of our employees and coworkers. If you would like to discuss developing and implementing a plan the please contact us!

The most common mistake we see when surveying a facility for an active shooter threat assessment is lack of access control at the main entrance of the establishment.  We know, and research validates, that 70% of the problems walk right in the front door.  How open is your front?

This does not mean that the front door to every building needs to resemble the process to enter CIA headquarters, though that sounds like our Tactical Operations Department’s Christmas dreams coming true.  Rather are there any roadblocks, physical or personnel, which slow down the threat or discourage confrontation from even entering?

For an office building, to get past the lobby is there one main entryway? Is it manned by a security staff or employee? Do you require all visitors to sign in and out? Just these little procedural steps can discourage an individual from wanting to enter the facility for anything nefarious.

To gain access to a general office area, can someone walk right in? The idea here is to create a subtle choke point where traffic is forced through a defined passage.  This could be between two receptionist desks or between a desk and a walled structure.  Free flow is your biggest security risk. 



Proper training for the personnel working these areas could reduce many potential problems. Theirs will be the first set of eyes on the individual and could alert others to any impending problems. 

Need help figuring out the best configuration or where you are vulnerable? Just contact us, it is what our experts love to do!

Want to build community ties and increase security at your facility?

In business we often look for actions that generate an easy win-win.  We at Invictus Consulting LLC have a great suggestion that will make an impact with your community relations and increase your organizations security all for very little money.  What is it?

Host a law enforcement appreciation day.  Contact your local head of the precinct or post commander and invite them over. For the cost of some coffee and pastries you will get a chance to meet and thank the men and women that are protecting you as well as they will get to learn what your business is about.  To quote Dan Stephens, one of our founding partners with almost 30 years law enforcement experience, “If I was a business owner I would want the police intimately familiar with my business.  Where we are, what we do, and who we are.  In the event of an emergency, the more information they know about you the easier it is for them to assist.”   

I like to tell clients benefits are twofold. First they know what the inside of your facility looks like so if they ever have to enter they are more comfortable with the surroundings and know their way around. Secondly, it impacts basic human psychology. With law enforcement knowing the people inside the business and having a positive interaction with your team, who is to say it doesn't translate into some after-hours patrolling just to make sure your facility is secure?

I know coffee and donuts sounds a little cliché, but let’s be honest: Who doesn't like coffee and donuts? More importantly who wouldn't want to build up some community relations and improve the security of the work place? 

Want more ideas? Contact us! 

The Invictus Consulting LLC Blog

The goal with our company blog will be to assist business managers and security directors in making the best possible decisions regarding the mitigation of their risks to facilities and personnel.  We aim to create dialog and provoke thought into serious matters that affect the manner in which we do business.  We at Invictus Consulting LLC look forward to sharing our research with you, the global community, in an effort to make our world more secure.

In addition we also plan to give tips and ideas that will make your organization a better participant in the local community which will improve the security of your workforce.  Sometimes our information will be as fun to read as watching paint dry, others it will be light and enjoyable.  Either way it will be created by our experts with you in mind.

We hope you enjoy, check back often, and more importantly contact Invictus Consulting LLC for your risk management assistance.