Workplace Safety Tips:
Bank & Store Robberies

Workplace Safety Tips - increasing personal safety in the workplace by reducing the risk of bank & store robberies.

An ordinary day proved anything but normal for Samantha Fowler when an armed robber changed her life forever. “If you see something that you think isn’t right, it’s probably not right,” Fowler said. “The police are patient and understand that there’s not always something wrong, but you want them there when something is wrong with workplace safety.” ... A police officer said, “An armed robber is desperate because he knows the police will be after him shortly. Nothing will make a robber hurt or kill you faster than seeing you activate the alarm. When you do this, he knows his time is up.”
Excerpted from The Munster Post-Tribune – 09 October 2003

Hoboken NJ - A new hire at the video store who arrived just before midnight so she could be trained on how to close up the store instead discovered two men holding her male co-worker at gunpoint who tied her up too. ... With both employees bound, the robbers asked for the safe combination. The man gave them a false code, but when the combination didn't work, they began kicking him in the stomach. The female employee then gave them the true code.
Excerpted from The Jersey Journal – 01 December 2004

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends improving workplace safety by:
• Using locked drop safes, carrying small amounts of cash and posting signs that limited cash is available.
• Physically separating workers from customers, clients and the general public.
• Making high-risk areas visible to more people and installing good external lighting.
• Addressing the number of entrances and exits, the ease with which non-employees can gain access to work areas because doors are unlocked and the number of areas where potential attackers can hide.
• Using CCTV, silent alarms, two-way mirrors, card-key access systems, panic-bar doors locked from the outside only.

Sidney Holston is charged with robbing the same Radio Shack store three times. Holston worked at the store at one time, police said, and disabled the surveillance camera before the first two robberies.
Excerpted from The Macon Telegraph – 03 March 2006

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Detective Greg Strickland advises workplace safety for storeowners:
• Never block the view into your business by crowding display windows with merchandise, posters, etc.
• Keep a spare key hidden in your storeroom or cooler (in case robbers lock employees in there).
• Install a silent hold-up alarm system, publicize it (to deter robbers), and instruct trusted employees to use it.
• Robbers are often past employees. Careful screening of job applicants (and photos) can discourage a potential robber. (Do a background check with police as well.)
• Attempt to alert other employees that a robbery is taking place by using prearranged signals.
Excerpted from WJXT TV4 Jacksonville – 20 May 2004

“Remember, the robber only wants the money and to get out in the shortest time possible. First, do exactly what you are told. Arguing or becoming belligerent with the robber will only upset him and may result in injury. ... Second, do not become the hero. Just because you don't see a weapon doesn't mean the robber doesn't have one. By attempting to subdue him, you could worsen workplace safety and severely injure yourself or others,” police said.
Excerpted from The Oakland Tribune (CA) – 11 July 2003

If confronted by a robbery in a bank or store, avoid eye contact, and say you are reaching for your money – then move slowly! Give up your money without stalling or spooking them.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1998 said that having more than one clerk at night increases workplace safety, but the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in 1999 said that having more than one clerk increases the homicide rate. The conflicting research has multiple co-variables that include the number of criminals involved, their collective mindset (age, experience, anxiety level, degree of drug withdrawal, etc.), volume of current customer traffic, neighborhood location, and so on.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA - February 2002) reported that University of North Carolina research found certain steps reduced the odds of a homicide in retail stores by 30-70 percent. The greatest benefit came from keeping doors closed during working hours and having more than one person working at night. The most effective equipment was bright lighting. Hiring security guards does some good, but other changes such as surveillance cameras, signs that a store keeps limited cash on hand and improved visibility of a work area from outside didn't appear to help prevent robbery-related slayings. Nevertheless:

In addition to having a real security system, Detective Steve Corbett of the St. Petersburg police suggests that storeowners stock a phony VCR and change the "tape" daily. That way, employees – who sometimes set up the robbery – don't know that the real tape is hidden elsewhere. When the robber demands the videotape, the owner hands over a blank one. In case of a robbery, shut down the business until the police have gathered evidence. ... Business owners should vary their routine making bank deposits to avoid being predictable. Instead of carrying cash in a rubber bank envelope, use unpredictable and varied containers such as a paper bag one time, an Igloo lunch pail the next. Fool the robber by filling the rubber bank envelope with newspapers cut to the size of money stacks.
Excerpted from the St. Petersburg Times – 01 July 2001

Use two people to open and close your business for workplace safety. One person should remain outside (or inside, upon closing) until the other gives the all-clear signal. Always enter or leave by the more visible front door.

• Go to Occupational Safety and Health Administration - OSHA to get OSHA products or advice, file a complaint, or report an emergency.
• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has online videos of workplace safety strategies at NIOSH - Violence on the Job.

Fogging Devices for Unoccupied Buildings

“Fogging devices are linked to an alarm, use a glycol/water mix and heater to make fog, and can pump out 1,000 cubic metres in 30 seconds. The intention is to disorientate the robber or burglar and cause them to flee,” says the managing director of Concept Smoke Screen (www.smoke-screen.co.uk). … Rival firm Smoke Cloak’s (www.smokecloak.com) managing director says, "Originally, they were mostly used in unoccupied buildings for overnight protection, but as crime has become more violent, more places want to use them to protect their staff during working hours." … However, the former head of the Metropolitan Police's Specialist Operations says, “When a room suddenly fills with fog, it gives a robber another reason to panic. You could quite easily end up with someone being shot.”
Excerpted from The BBC News (UK) – 08 June 2009

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