Weather Emergencies And Other Crisis; How Do You Prepare, Respond, Recover and Do You Still Stop Shoplifting? Part 2

 

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Weather Emergencies And Other Crisis; How Do You Prepare, Respond, Recover and Do You Still Stop Shoplifting? Part 2 
     I had several tornado watches and warnings I had to respond to while working as a Retail Loss Prevention Manager. Usually these took place when we were under severe thunderstorm warnings which happen regularly here during the summer. We couldn’t shut down computers, registers to protect against power surge damage because we still operated the store during the storms. We also had to stop shoplifting since customers were still shopping at those times so we continued to operate our Checkpoint Security System as well. If the wind was picking up we locked the automatic doors which had a tendency to fly open. Otherwise we monitored our weather radio and a portable radio I had in my office until we had to act. In Part 1 of this series I shared a story about a category 1 hurricane which hit our area and our store remained open. In this article I will share a couple of other crisis our store went through and how we responded.
     Before I continue I do want to briefly tell readers about Checkpoint Security Systems, what they are and why I include them in a discussion on severe weather. The systems are anti-theft tools called electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems because they are a system of electrically powered detection towers, deactivation pads designed to de-tune soft Checkpoint tags and the Checkpoint tags themselves, which may be soft labels or hard tags that attach to clothes and other products. When power goes out due to a storm the towers become inoperable and cannot detect tags and therefore no longer stop shoplifting. Being aware of this means addressing it should be included in emergency action plans. 
     Living in a beach, resort area we get quite a few waterspouts just offshore. Generally they stay over the ocean without doing any damage. During one storm, a water spout actually came on land and became a full-blown tornado, less than a mile from our store. I got people to move to the center of our building when we got the tornado warning but to this day I still have to shake my head thinking about what one of our store managers did that day. The Manager On Duty went outside to see if she could see the tornado! I had to yell at her to get back in the building. We don’t see many tornados around here, so I guess she got caught up in the excitement. Ultimately the twister turned away and died out shortly afterwards but no damage was done to the store or any of our customers…or managers! 
     In a different emergency, a fuel truck overturned on the highway in front of our store. Aside from the obvious concern about the leaking contents, we had a different problem. Police had to divert traffic through our parking lot, directly in front of our front doors. There was no written plan for this but my team improvised in my absence. Customers wanting to enter and leave were having a terrible time as the line of cars would not stop to let people pass. It took them away from monitoring the Checkpoint security system towers but my team partnered with the manager on duty to have someone monitor for alarms set off by Checkpoint tags. They then stepped outside and began directing traffic. The Loss Prevention team helped customers enter the store and get out to their cars. Their efforts allowed the store to stay open and operate as normal.
     One crisis that impacted our area for nearly a week, a small brush fire turned into a major fire emergency. There had been extremely dry conditions here and a resident decided to burn leaves, ignoring a burn ban. Fire fighters from all over the state and neighboring states came in to assist. In order to help in some way I partnered with our store manager and district Loss Prevention Manager to provide bottled water for firefighters and the company made a donation to The American Red Cross to assist families displaced by the fires. Though it was not a threat to the store, the impact on the community was real and some of our employees had homes in the threatened areas.
     Emergency response can be difficult and the emergency itself can seem to grow exponentially when a plan is not in place. Training and review of emergency procedures can give a level of confidence to managers even when a situation cannot be foreseen, like an overturned truck. Plan now and don’t forget that Loss Prevention and the need to stop shoplifting should be a part of those plans. In Part 3 I will discuss some ideas on how to make an emergency plan.
Checkpoint Security Systems are important and we can help you with them. Call at 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.

I had several tornado watches and warnings I had to respond to while working as a Retail Loss Prevention Manager. Usually these took place when we were under severe thunderstorm warnings which happen regularly here during the summer. We couldn’t shut down computers, registers to protect against power surge damage because we still operated the store during the storms. We also had to stop shoplifting since customers were still shopping at those times so we continued to operate our Checkpoint Security System as well. If the wind was picking up we locked the automatic doors which had a tendency to fly open. Otherwise we monitored our weather radio and a portable radio I had in my office until we had to act. In Part 1 of this series I shared a story about a category 1 hurricane which hit our area and our store remained open. In this article I will share a couple of other crisis our store went through and how we responded.

Before I continue I do want to briefly tell readers about Checkpoint Security Systems, what they are and why I include them in a discussion on severe weather. The systems are anti-theft tools called electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems because they are a system of electrically powered detection towers, deactivation pads designed to de-tune soft Checkpoint tags and the Checkpoint tags themselves, which may be soft labels or hard tags that attach to clothes and other products. When power goes out due to a storm the towers become inoperable and cannot detect tags and therefore no longer stop shoplifting. Being aware of this means addressing it should be included in emergency action plans. 

Living in a beach, resort area we get quite a few waterspouts just offshore. Generally they stay over the ocean without doing any damage. During one storm, a water spout actually came on land and became a full-blown tornado, less than a mile from our store. I got people to move to the center of our building when we got the tornado warning but to this day I still have to shake my head thinking about what one of our store managers did that day. The Manager On Duty went outside to see if she could see the tornado! I had to yell at her to get back in the building. We don’t see many tornados around here, so I guess she got caught up in the excitement. Ultimately the twister turned away and died out shortly afterwards but no damage was done to the store or any of our customers…or managers! 

In a different emergency, a fuel truck overturned on the highway in front of our store. Aside from the obvious concern about the leaking contents, we had a different problem. Police had to divert traffic through our parking lot, directly in front of our front doors. There was no written plan for this but my team improvised in my absence. Customers wanting to enter and leave were having a terrible time as the line of cars would not stop to let people pass. It took them away from monitoring the Checkpoint security system towers but my team partnered with the manager on duty to have someone monitor for alarms set off by Checkpoint tags. They then stepped outside and began directing traffic. The Loss Prevention team helped customers enter the store and get out to their cars. Their efforts allowed the store to stay open and operate as normal.

One crisis that impacted our area for nearly a week, a small brush fire turned into a major fire emergency. There had been extremely dry conditions here and a resident decided to burn leaves, ignoring a burn ban. Fire fighters from all over the state and neighboring states came in to assist. In order to help in some way I partnered with our store manager and district Loss Prevention Manager to provide bottled water for firefighters and the company made a donation to The American Red Cross to assist families displaced by the fires. Though it was not a threat to the store, the impact on the community was real and some of our employees had homes in the threatened areas.

Emergency response can be difficult and the emergency itself can seem to grow exponentially when a plan is not in place. Training and review of emergency procedures can give a level of confidence to managers even when a situation cannot be foreseen, like an overturned truck. Plan now and don’t forget that Loss Prevention and the need to stop shoplifting should be a part of those plans. In Part 3 I will discuss some ideas on how to make an emergency plan.

 

Checkpoint Security Systems are important and we can help you with them. Call at 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.