Risk and Security LLC

Risk Assessments, Training and More

This content shows Simple View

risk assessment

OSHA Starts New Enforcement Initiative for Workplace Violence Issues

Posted on October 1, 2011 2:38 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

On September 8, OSHA issued a new directive about enforcement activity on workplace violence issues.  This directive (CPL 02-01-052) takes effective on Sept. 8, 2011 and is called Enforcement Procedures for Investigating or Inspecting Workplace Violence Incidents.  It details new procedures for the OSHA inspectors, but it is also a valuable document to show employers what they can expect.

The directive follows the shocking news that in 2010, 18% of workplace fatalities were caused by assaults and violent acts, while only 14% were caused by falls, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Workplace violence incidents are even higher in the hospital and healthcare industries.

The new inspection directive shows how OSHA inspectors are going to look at employers to see whether they have performed a workplace violence analysis.  These assessments follow the security risk assessment model and should take into account the threat level at the organization, the history of incidents and examination of trends, and whether ‘accepted’ controls have been implemented at the place of employment.

Some of the ‘accepted controls’ they will be examining include:

  • Having a recent workplace violence analysis
  • Having a formal workplace violence training program in place
  • Showing the employer had incident reports to identity possible threat levels
  • Methods the employer used to inform employees of the risk of workplace violence
  • Evidence the employer has a workplace violence prevention plan in place
  • Evidence the employer has a current security plan
  • There are also a set of recommended physical controls that include proper lighting, cameras, curved mirrors, etc.

For more information, or a copy of the document, email info@riskwatch.com.



Starting a Hospital Security Risk Assessment

Posted on September 28, 2011 7:26 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

How to make sure your Security Department is Working for the Hospital.

Security Risk Assessment are not just Required by the Joint Commission – they are required in many states as a preventive measure to help prevent and reduce workplace violence.

The Risk Assessment also helps managers and administrators assess their security program, directly measure it’s effectiveness and helps determine
cost effective methods that can give you a great deal of protection for the lowest possible cost — something we call “bang for the buck”. 

The recent increase in violence comes as a surprise to doctors, nurses, managers and administrators, too.  Violence is not a concept that people usually associate with hospitals.  For years, hospitals have been seen as almost a sanctuary of care for the sick and wounded in our society.   However, the perception of hospitals has been changing over the last fifteen years due to a variety of factors.

 1.  Doctors are no longer thought of as “Gods”.  This means they are
      are more easily blamed when a patient’s condition deteriorates.

 2.  Hospitals are now regarded as businesses.  This perception has been
       been aggravated by television in shows like a recent “60 Minutes”, as well as
       by the effects of the recession on jobs and the loss of health insurance.

3.  Lack of respect and resources (funding) for hospital security departments
   .  Rather than being seen as a crucial protection for the hospital staff and
      patients, many security departments are chronically underfunded and used
      for a variety of non- security functions, such as making bank deposits for
      the hospital gift shop, driving the education van, etc.

The federal government  issued a guidance document for dealing with violence issues in healthcare,  called OSHA 3148.01R, 2004, Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care & Social Service Workers.  You can download a copy at www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3148.pdf



Playing Footsie with the Haqqani Crime Network

Posted on September 26, 2011 2:40 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

I am a risk analyst and risk assessment expert, certainly not a diplomat.  In fact,  my friends might say I am probably really un-diplomatic most of the time.  I like the direct approach.

But watching the U.S. State Department and the Obama administration playing footsie with the Haqqani network in Afghanistan and Pakistan is worse than enduring waterboarding.  What a waste of American dollars — paying off these criminals to finance construction projects that Americans are doing to build up Afghani infrastructure.  

I have watched for years as the U.S. State Department props up brutal dictators, only to see them toppled overnight.  Of course, Mubarak and Quaddfi come to mind right away.

But to try and win a WAR, while paying off criminals and murderers who are launching attacks on our embassy, letting them run our relationship with Pakistan, is just wrong.

What has this got to do with risk assessment?  PLENTY – because the problem here is large amounts of unaccountable cash.  Cash passed out by the State Department, USAID and the intelligence services, theoretically, to ‘grease’ the skids and get something done, but instead, these wholesale PAYOFFS just finance and empower our enemies, while ruining the U.S. reputation and maddening the citizens who provide this money in the first place.

I would vote for anyone who could put REAL ACCOUNTABILITY back into the U.S. spending abroad.  As the Arab spring proved — this kind of diplomacy never works!



Remembering the Tragedy of 9/11

Posted on September 11, 2011 2:21 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

Today is the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.  Like most other Americans, like the Kennedy assassination so many years ago, the memories are indelibly burned into my soul.

On September 11, I was flying to a conference in Chicago, so I got up at 5 am to catch the 7:45 plane from BWI to Pittsburgh.  I was on the next plane to Chicago and it boarded at 9:35 and pushed out onto the runway.  I was waiting for it to take off when my cell phone rang and it was my son, Michael, who said, “They flew a plane into the Twins Towers in NYC”.   As a security professional, I knew what that meant.

After a confusing 15 minutes, the plane went back to the gate, and they told us the flight would be delayed for 6 hours, but as we walked off the plane, the man next to me got a call on his cell and said, “They hit the Pentagon”.

There was a hotel at the Pittsburgh Airport so I immediately ran over there and checked in because I knew there would be no planes leaving today, I noticed the huge crowd at the bar, watching the TV.   My brother worked in NYC, my sons and friends were in DC, so the phone lines weren’t working, but I signed on to AOL and was able to connect with them to say I was all right.  

They evacuated the airport, but I was up in my mini command center by then.  I must have gotten 400 emails that day and I was watching the coverage on TV and crying, and then I heard about United Flight 93.

It took me about 2 days to get home.  A friend DROVE from the conference in Chicago to Pittsburgh and picked me up at midnight on 9/11.  We drove together through the Appalachian mountains to her home south of Philadelphia.  She had small children and wanted to get home fast.

We arrived at about 9 am on 9/12, after driving all night.  I slept for 4 hours on her son’s bed, and then her husband took me to the Amtrak station at Wilmington and I took the train back to BWI. It felt like I was moving through a bad dream.

Next, I tried to get my car, which was in the parking structure by the terminal, but it was blocked and they said I wouldn’t be able to get my cars for several more days, so I took a cab back home.

I remember driving up my street and seeing the American flags on houses, and I remember thinking about why I didn’t know all these neighbors and how I would change that in the future.  I remember how blue the sky was, not a cloud, not a plane.  It was surrealistically quiet.

I know several people who were killed in the Pentagon, and many in NYC who were dramatically affected, including the children in the NY suburbs who got called out of class one by one, to hear that their father, or mother was gone.

My theory is that people who lived on the west coast didn’t feel the impact quite as much as we did – who had been to the Pentagon every week, and been in the Twin Towers.

A friend of mine in San Diego who was proud of not having a TV, and who got up early that morning to order a sheet set on QVC.  She was in the middle of her order when the operator started crying and could not continue – she kept telling Kathy, “please turn on the TV and call back tomorrow”.

Just for me, I think I am permanently damaged by what happened on 9/11, and I think the whole country shares a continuing sorrow and grief from this event. 

We won’t let it happen again.



Put your Hospital Security Department on a Low Fat Diet

Posted on August 11, 2011 12:55 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

Hospitals are reeling from potential losses in funding related to state budget cut-backs
and potential cuts in Medicare programs.  Every area of the hospital budget are being scrutinized, looking for areas to cut and reduce costs.

Instead of waiting for a memo about cuts that affect YOUR department, be a
pro-active manager and right-size your security department and show management
the changes you want to make.

It is possible to have an efficient, accountable security department without having costs run out of control.  It has to be based on real dollars, on real risks and it has to have the ability to show management WHY you need each element in your program.

The already-required risk assessment is the first start in this process.  When regulators come in to a hospital, they want to see the risk assessment first, and then they look to see if you followed the remediation plan identified in the risk assessment, which means they want to see you made the right improvements, based on the plan.

By including program elements in the risk assessment, and mapping it back to your actual budget, you can easily say that the Return On Investment is for each part of your program.



7 Hot Weather Tips for People & Pets

Posted on July 21, 2011 3:54 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

Seven Tips to Reduce Heat-Related Health Problems

I grew up in southern California without air conditioning!  I used to jump in the pool and sleep in wet pajamas with a fan running to stay cool. 

And don’t forget to give your pets the care they
need during hot weather!

The best defense is prevention. Here the top 8 tips for coping with hot weather.

1.  Drink more liquids (not alochol) and drink more all day, not just
     when you feel thirsty.

2.  Don’t drink alcohol or sugary drinks – they cause you to lose
     body fluid.

3.  Stay indoors in air conditioning.  If you don’t have a/c, go to
     the library or the mall.  And bring your pets into the air
     conditioning, too.

4.  Cool off with water, take a cool shower before bed.  And make
     sure pets have plenty of cool water, too, add ice to their water
     dishes.

5.   Wear white, or light-colored clothing that doesn’t absorb the heat, it will
      reduce insect bites, too.

6.   NEVER leave children or pets in a closed vehicle during the summer and
      especially during a heat wave.

7.   Reduce strenuous outdoor exercise until the heat breaks.



Risk Assessment: How about Giving Guns Back to Former Mental Patients

Posted on July 6, 2011 2:37 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

A recent New York Times article explained that a provision tucked in a bill to make it harder for people diagnosed with mental illness to possess firearms, actually restores the rights of mental health patients to get their firearms back. The legislation was passed after the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007.

One of the main elements of risk assessment is a quantitative (meaning = real numbers) on what has happened in the past. Looking at 2 or 3 years of incident reports, for example, show how many times there has been an incident involving gun violence in a particular neighborhood, city or organization.

Another element is the history of a particular individual to see whether individuals with a diagnosed history of mental illness are MORE OR LESS likely to trigger (forgive the pun) – a violent incident.

If we run that scenario, we will find that individuals who previously had a violent incident with a firearm are MORE LIKELY than the standard population to have another incident.
And that especially holds true if other threat indicators are present, for example:

Termination from a Job
Romantic Difficulties
Foreclosure
Difficult Economy

There is a ‘risk multiplier’ effect that takes place that makes the risk higher. By combining different sets of threat categories with areas of weakness, we are create general predictions on the likelihood of repeated violent incidents.

Do the math – it doesn’t make sense for people with a history of mental illness to
get their guns back!



Lessons I Learned from little Caylee Anthony

Posted on July 5, 2011 6:21 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

Caylee Anthony and Lessons Learned

Everyone who has watched this case found it compelling and fascinating – like watching a cobra ready to strike.

This case caught my attention right in the beginning, and what a great job #Nancy Grace and HLN did in keeping the pressure on, assisting with the search in the beginning, and actually finding photos, etc.

My daughter-in-law wasn’t pregnant when this trial started, but now she and my son have 18-month old twins, and we are all watching this trial together.    I started out disliking the Anthony parents, but now that I’ve seen Cindy and George break down on the stand and now that I understand the critical role of grandparents, I have sympathy for them.

Here’s what my lessons learned include:

1.  If you are a grandparent and thinking something is wrong – don’t wait.  Who 
     cares if your child thinks you’re nuts, you are an advocate for a child too young to
     protect themselves.   Grandparents can save the lives of their grandchildren when
     young parents are overwhelmed.

2.  Lock up the swimming pool.   Whether it’s an in ground or above-ground pool – it’s
     too dangerous for children who can’t swim.  Take extraordinary steps to keep that pool
     out of reach of any children.

3.  Don’t tolerate lying from your children when they are young.  This must be a
     lesson that is taught when children are young.  Lying is not right, and not acceptable. 
     When you in your twenties, or even in high school, it’s too late.  This tragedy was
     compounded by the constant lies of Casey Anthony.

4.  Love and enjoy your children every day because life is uncertain and you may
     never get another chance to say how much you love them, and how much they add
     to your life!



Unsnarling political differences based on Type preferences

Posted on June 28, 2011 1:28 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

A key component of decision making is laying out all the options to make an informed decision.

Watching the angst of the political parties trying to solve the debt problem shows that they are both charging around saying their favorite rallying cries, which does not promote dialogue, but just inflames the other party.

Think of these two parties, Dems and Repubs, as made up of two TYPES of individuals.  The MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) personality test is made up of 16 distinct types of people and you can summarize and put them into two main groups – the Traditionalists and the Innovators.

See if this sounds familiar – Traditionalists like for things to stay the same, they always support the status quo.  They dislike change for change’s sake, so they don’t want to raise taxes.  They like to keep a strong sense of order so they
are often military, law enforcement, corporate titans, etc.  They are often presidents of associations and organizations and they are great at keeping things running efficiently.

Innovators want to explore and try new things – in life AND in politics. They want to get out of Afghanistan and put in a new tax structure, and reinvent old institutions, instead of cherishing them, as the Traditionals do.

Both these groups have great contributions that they make to society – Traditionals keep things organized and running and Innovators find new, better ways of doing things.

Innovators are always searching for the next new thing so it’s so coincidence that
California has more than it’s statistical share of Innovators – they keep kept going west, and kept looking until stopped by the Pacific ocean.

Type preferences are set before you are 5 years old and indicate preferences for your entire life.  I am already seeing types emerge from watching toddlers under the age of 2.

When you understand the values of the other party, according to type preferences, you can have a more civil dialogue because you can now understand where the other side is coming from, so to speak. 

You can find out which type you are,  or just find out more about the MBTI at www.myersbriggs.org.



5 Tips to Prevent Workplace Violence

Posted on June 24, 2011 3:22 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

After studying the twenty-seven state guidelines and also new guidance from
OSHA on how to prevent workplace violence incidents,

Here are 5 tips of what areas to work on in your organization:

1.  Redo Policies – Make sure you have a clear ‘no weapons’ policy and make
     employees sign a pledge when they join the organization.

2.  Dynamic Awareness Training   – Make sure that EVERY employee attends
     a training program about workplace violence issues,  whether it’s 1 hour or
     4 hours  annually.  But boring computer training is not enough.

3.  Do a Baseline Violence Assessment   – See where your organization
     rates compared to other companies and see how closely you match to
     new standards and guidelines on Workplace Violence issues.

4.  Require Employees to Report Every Incident – Communicate to employees
     that they are required to report EVERY incident, whether it is domestic
     violence at work,  Patient violence, or anything else.  Be tough!

5.  Use Incident Tracking  – Work with both Security and HR to make sure
     every incident is tracked for analysis, and all employees know where and how
     to report incidents




top