The standard of care for companies with employees who work where threat levels may be elevated. If your company is not being proactive with regard to providing information to, and training of, your employees who live or travel to these areas then your company could find itself faced with legal actions brought against it by these employees. Not only would the company be facing the lawsuits, but even worse, there may be little or no insurance to help cover the cost of the litigation or the financial damage resulting from them. General Liability , Umbrella Liability, Directors and Officers Liability or Workers Compensation policies will not provide any coverage for many of these legal actions, and as such, there will be no defense provided by the policies.

 

Employees who find themselves living or working in areas where threats of attack or abduction are evident must be informed of the threats and given information and training to deal with the potential threats. Companies who fail to meet this standard of care can find themselves being the target of a legal action, even if the employees are not actual victims of attacks or abducted, much in the same way a company who operates a sawmill might be held liable for failing to properly instruct the employees in the proper safe operation of the saws, and also failing to install the required safety guards on the saws. Employees can sue the companies for failure to inform them of the threats, failing to take proper action to mitigate them, failing to train the employees to deal with the threats, failing to protect them from the threats, and more.

 

These lawsuits are almost always settled out of court and there is little, to no, practical defense of the company that can be applied. Damages can reach into the millions of dollars and even the cost of the litigation is borne fully by the company. This can have a devasting effect upon the company’s financial position.

Companies that actually must deal with the effects of an attack upon, or the abduction of, an employee are also forced to deal with the other issues associated with these criminal acts. These issues can include; loss of productivity in the workplace, the necessary replacement, (temporary or long-term), of the employee, the necessity to provide internal crisis management to the other employees affected and to the public, assisting in the recovery and rehabilitation of the employee, and dealing with the negative publicity, as a whole, as it affects the company. The soft costs resulting from even one such criminal action can easily have a negative effect on the company that is already reeling from the hard cost directly associated with the same act.

 

Providing the proper information and the proper training to your employees has become a critical part of managing these threats and companies who are proactive in this regard find themselves protected against not just the threat itself, but the negative financial impact resulting from their employees being the target, or the victim, of criminal actions.

 

Contact SBS Training Solutions via phone or email to discuss how your company can be protected.