Safety and Security

Most crime in the workplace, be it cyber or physical, occurs where there is a lack of security planning. Organizations need to ensure that their cyber security is the best possible, but they especially have to take steps to keep their physical locations security in order to keep employees safe. This week's articles take a look at both these security needs. You and your team should take a look at these and see if your plans cover everything recommended by the experts.

As an entrepreneur, one of your priorities should be ensuring the safety of your employees; read these tips for creating a more secure and potentially more productive work environment. (Item #1)     Michael O'Neil, a founder of the NYPD Counterterrorism Division, weighs in on keeping employees safe. (Item #2)     What's the difference between a safety program and a safety culture? (Item #3)  

There are five steps to creating a good security plan. (Item #4)     Major breaches will have a detrimental effect on a company. (Item #5)     IT bosses say they struggle to convince companies of the value of implementing expensive security systems. (Item #6)    

As always, I look forward to hearing about your concerns with regard to business continuity. If there are any topics that you'd like to see covered, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Keeping Your Employees Safe at Work

You create a win-win situation when you make an effort to protect employees. It shows that you care about them as human beings, not just worker bees. They feel safer and more secure at work, thus removing distractions that can undermine their productivity. You may also have a legal obligation to safeguard employees from harm.
http://edwardlowe.org/digital-library/keeping-your-employees-safe-at-work/

2. Practical Steps to Keeping Your Employees Safe: Tips from a Security Expert

MSA Security, a premier security services firm in NYC, advises facility managers about how to make their workplaces safer, or, at the very least, how to "harden the structure" to make it more difficult for a dangerous individual to gain entry. MSA president Michael O'Neil spoke with Inc.'s Eric Markowitz about what, if anything, a company can do to keep employees safe.
http://www.inc.com/eric-markowitz/keeping-employees-safe-tips-from-security-expert-michael-oneil.html

3. Seven ways to build a safety culture

A program has a start and end date. A culture is an environment that has a philosophy that permeates the daily activities of the organization. Safety and health do not exist in a vacuum. Other aspects of the organization, including people and financial management, impact safety. Therefore, a safety culture must be a part of the overall corporate culture to be understood and accepted as a high priority.
http://workplacepossibilities.com/blog/7-ways-to-build-a-safety-culture/

4. Business Security Planning

IT, as well as online security, is vital for organizations of any size. The alternatives include business interruption, poor legal compliance, impact on revenue, compromised reputation or, at worst, business failure. Therefore, you need to take a systematic approach to security and the first place to start is to compile and implement an effective business security plan.
https://www.getsafeonline.org/information-security/business-security-planning/

5. Cyber Security Considerations for Your Business Continuity Plan

When you think about business continuity issues, your first thought might turn to preparing for natural disasters but increasingly, business continuity has included a focus on how to respond under cyber-attack or data breaches. In the 2015 PwC report based on the Global State of Information survey, the number of information security incidents has increased from 28.9 million in 2013 to 42.8 million in 2014 (a 48% increase). These incidents are not only costly but they also disrupt business and damage reputations.
http://blog.integratelecom.com/cyber-security-considerations-for-your-business-continuity-plan/

6. How to promote data security in the workplace? A roundtable report

Online security is rarely out of the headlines these days as hackers focus their attacks on the world's top websites, compromising the data of millions of users. From the Heartbleed bug, which has undermined web encryption, to everyday criminals looking to steal online bank details, the pressure is mounting on organizations to tighten up their data defences. Yet many organizations are failing to pay sufficient heed to these threats.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/14/data-security-workplace-digital-threat-business