| Research shows generally poor attitudes towards office security
A staggering 36 percent of those surveyed would wait to see what others around them do before taking action and 29 percent say they would finish what they were doing, while waiting to see if the alarm stops. Almost half (48 percent) would wait for up to five minutes before considering that an alarm bell might be a genuine emergency. Disconcertingly, just over a quarter (27 percent) of those questioned don’t even know what the emergency exit procedure is for their office or building. It appears that workers also allow strangers into their working environment – no questions asked. Half of those surveyed will only ask for identification or make enquiries ‘if the person looks suspicious’, and 18 percent never make any enquiries at all. If there is an unknown or abandoned bag or box in the office, 29 percent would ignore it. Dennis Thomas, director of Business Continuity at Synstar commented: “Despite repeated security breaches on varying scales across the world, people still appear to have an ‘it will never happen to me’ attitude which is putting continuity of businesses at risk. Everyone in an organisation needs to feel responsibility and vigilance. It’s crucial that employers ensure that all staff are aware of risks, counter-measures and what to do in a crisis. Rehearsing a plan is fundamental to building awareness, so alarms should never be ignored – you never know when it’s going to be for real.” Ironically, 89 percent of UK professionals questioned believe that they have a ‘sensible but not over-sensitive’ attitude towards risk and security at work. Just 3 percent consider themselves to be highly aware of risks and counter-measures. At the other end of the spectrum, 8 percent think that risk and security is over-hyped and not a great concern. This complacency could stem from the impression that the threat is exaggerated – 38 percent of workers think that both business risk and security issues are over-inflated by the media. Workers based in London are less likely to
perceive risks to be over-hyped (34 percent) and are also less likely
to ignore an alarm. Only 9 percent would assume it’s a false
alarm, compared to 15 percent in the regions. Similarly, 24 percent
of Londoners working in an office don’t know their office’s
emergency However, the ‘sheep mentality’ is more exaggerated in London, where 50 percent of professionals would wait and see what others do before reacting to an emergency alarm, compared to 21 percent in the regions. In fact, only one in five London-based workers would make an immediate exit upon hearing an alarm. Dennis Thomas concludes: “It’s time to develop a more mature attitude to risk, which is based on knowledge and experience rather than complacency or alarmism. It is a daunting task, but failing to address it could prove detrimental. The good news is that there are professionals out there to help organisations scope out potential threats and develop best practice business continuity planning and crisis response.”
•Date:
3rd June 2004 •Region: UK/W.Europe •Type:
Article •Topic: BC
general |
