Several high-profile attacks have highlighted lapses in workplace security. Security experts point out that a large number of organizations still operate without formal response protocols for active assailant threats.
A recent study by ASIS International found that 14% of companies lacked a comprehensive strategy for active assailant incidents and had no current plans to develop one. Another 25% of respondents said they did not have a workplace violence plan but intended to create one. In total, that accounts for 39% of businesses surveyed without a workable violence prevention plan.
The survey was conducted in collaboration with Everbridge, a security-focused software provider. Everbridge offers alert notification, incident management and crisis communication tools to help organizations coordinate responses.
Data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration shows 458 workplace homicides in 2023, the latest available year. That figure fell from 524 incidents recorded in 2022. That decline represents 66 fewer homicides compared with the previous year.
For context, about 20 people are killed each year in the U.S. by lightning strikes. That means employees face at least a twentyfold greater risk of a fatal workplace incident than a lightning-related death.
C. Joshua Villines, a member of ASIS International’s global board of directors, told reporters, “Frankly, any number above zero is an unacceptable amount.”
Security specialists find the lack of formal plans striking when many schools run active shooter exercises for children as young as pre-kindergarten. Such drills are mandated in 37 states, but only California requires businesses to institute a violence prevention plan—a rule adopted in the past year.
Matthew Dumpert, managing director at Kroll, a financial and risk solutions firm, pointed out the precarious position companies face: “It’s like walking through a minefield,” he said. “You just haven’t stepped on a mine yet.”
