1 in 4 workers unsure how to respond in a workplace emergency: Survey

A new survey finds a disconnect between employees' beliefs about the safety of their workplace and their own competency in responding to an emergency scenario.
While the vast majority of workers (94 per cent) feel their office is a secure place to work, nearly one-quarter (23 per cent) say they would not know what to do to protect themselves if there was an emergency in their office that posed a physical threat, according to a survey by CareerBuilder of more than 3,000 workers in the United States.

When asked about their feelings of security in regards to specific forms of threat, three in 10 employees (30 per cent) do not feel their workplace is well-protected from a physical threat from another person, and the same percentage (30 per cent) feel their workplace is not well-protected from a digital hacking threat.

Most workers (85 per cent) feel their workplace is well-protected in case of a fire, flood or other disaster, and 83 per cent feel their workplace is well-protected from weather-related threats.

One in five workers (21 per cent) report their company does not have an emergency plan in place in case of fire, flood or other disaster, and one in four (26 per cent) say the same of extremely severe weather. Even more workers (40 per cent) don’t believe their company has an emergency plan in place in case of a physical attack from another person or a technology security breach.

“Ensuring a safe and secure work environment should be of the utmost importance in any workplace,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “Keeping employees protected means not only putting measures in place to keep them safe, but making sure employees are aware of the policies and procedures they can protect themselves, too.”