Eighteen Months Later: More Foodservice Operators Implementing Active Shooter and Workplace Violence Training
Foodservice Training Portal has released a follow up to findings from a May 2017 study of 200 independent restaurants on active shooter training. At that time, the results indicated 92% of the independent restaurants polled were not using any active shooter training. A new follow up study released today finds that 18% of the same restaurants polled in the previous survey now have some means of training in place. That translates to 36 out of the 196 locations still actively open for business.
While most business owners agreed they do not think their operation is at risk for an active shooter, many have now adopted the stance of ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’. This updated survey was conducted in the direct aftermath of the Borderline Bar & Grill incident in Thousand Oaks, CA which saw 11 killed. And of the 82% that had not yet implemented any type of active shooter education for either management or crew level staff, 11% indicated they were ‘highly likely’ to conduct training within the next quarter.
This paradigm shift across the foodservice industry comes not only as incidents increase but also many Americans are no longer taking their safety for granted. Customers are becoming more comfortable with armed security in clubs, malls and arenas and other means of extra security when in smaller, more intimate venues. The expectation that we are safe wherever we go- in our schools, churches, restaurants and outdoor events- is a myth that has been debunked by the 323 mass shooting incidents that have occurred year to date (as of 11/28/18 according to data from the Gun Violence Archive). “It is important to see implementation of active shooter training trending in a positive direction. We have seen this first hand with the more than 3,000 operators that benefit from our restaurant active shooter training each year,” said Eric Webster, Managing Director of Foodservice Training Portal. “If history is any indicator, foodservice will continue to be a soft target of choice for active shooters. Operators should be proactively employing vulnerability testing and active shooter prep and response training to prepare staff in the event of an incident.”
Foodservice Training Portal is a leader in the field of e-Learning and hospitality talent training solutions. The company is the provider of Active Shooter Prep Online, interactive, online restaurant active shooter training that educates crew level employees in the latest active shooter procedures and protocols. Using the guidelines/directives established by FEMA, the FBI and the DHS, the course establishes an understanding of workplace violence and active shooter events and provides detailed information on how to best prepare for, guard against and respond during an actual incident. For more information, visit https://foodservicetrainingportal.com/asp.html
