CHECK IT EVERYDAY!

March 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment


LPSI EVOLVE-Store Mobile AppYou’ve got a great EAS system. You’re stopping shrink and keeping profits in your store. You’re happy. Losses are down and you might actually make your sales targets. So it’s like Ronco Rotisserie where you just “set it and forget it,” right? Not quite. You have a few things to do if you want that system to provide you years and years of a return on investment.

While a good EAS tower won’t need much in the way of maintenance, you have to make sure it is in working order on a daily basis. Sometimes, I’ve found that with all the customer traffic in and out, kids running in and out of the store and even those with malicious intent, that often the towers get un-powered (unplugged). Part of your daily routine should be to test and verify the towers. This is incredibly easy to do; just pass a tag through the gate. If it alerts, well, your system works. If it doesn’t, then you have a problem! I have my managers do this each and every morning.

You would think that this would be simply, even a common sense practice, right? Well, you’d be surprised. I had a store a while back install a new EAS system. It was a system that had the sensors built in to the floor. You’d never know that it was there. Well, that store manager sent in maintenance request after maintenance request hollering and screaming that the system wasn’t working. We’d of course send a tech out, who would confirm it was functioning properly and a few days later, the store manager would be yelling again that it wasn’t alarming when tags were passing through.

I decided to stop by the store and see for myself. As soon as I walked in the doors, I saw the problem. This store manager was displaying pallets of aluminum boiling pots up against the front doors, which put them right over the sensors on the ground. When the techs came to inspect the system, they moved them out of the way. The store manager then challenged me on where else he could display those pots… but that’s for another article.

Bottom line here is that you need to inspect your system and test it daily. Whether it be a manger, or a member of your sales team, you’ve got to make sure that it’s working and there’s nothing impeding its ability to stop shrink. A car will only drive it has gas it, right? Same goes for your EAS system!

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Red Tape In Retail Theft Prevention

March 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Checkpoint Systems-3
Red Tape In Retail Theft Prevention
From small business to big box, all retailers have to have policies and guidelines to keep their operations going in the right direction.  Cash control, hiring and training, and loss prevention measures, among other key business factors, should be consistent and fully understood by all members of your staff.  I am a firm believer that employees should never quote policy in a customer service situation, but the company’s policies should be known and applied.  These rules can sometimes be very stringent and restricting when it comes to how the staff can stop shoplifting issues.  I work for a retail pharmacy, and our staff must meet several components before making a stop.
1. Only a member of management can make the stop.
2. The manager must see the person conceal merchandise.
3. They must be able to articulate exactly what the person has.  (for example: I need to speak to you about the bottle of ibuprofen in your pocket.)  
4. They must not lose sight of the suspect.  If sight is lost at any point, the person cannot be stopped.
5. The person must be past the point of purchase. (for example: Between the registers and the Checkpoint Systems pedestals.)
6. Employees may not exit the building to follow or question a suspected shoplifter.  No physical contact with the suspect is allowed.
I could say I have followed these rules every time I have made a stop. But that would put me in jeopardy of being struck by lightning, so I won’t.  
Rules are made for good reasons.  They are made to keep us, our customers, and our company safe.  The thing is that sometimes you just can’t stick with them.  Let’s say you are sitting in the office and you notice a suspicious character.  They are darting around, filling a bag with expensive merchandise, like high end blue jeans.  Or they have just emptied a couple of pegs of phone chargers or other electronics.  Do you really want to wait on them to make a run for it?  The Checkpoint Systems will alarm and go berserk, but it will be too late.  No, I am not saying to go accuse them of plotting to steal.  Don’t ever do that.  But there is nothing stopping you from approaching them and offering some excellent customer service.  Let them know you know what’s going on.  Tell them their basket or bag looks awful heavy and tell them you will put it behind the checkout counter for them to pay for when they are ready.  Same thing goes if they just have a handful of those electronics. 
Take a look at the new trend of thieves coming in pairs.  One gathers the merchandise while the other remains in the background.  The staff is not even aware of the second person being part of this.   The first one doesn’t pay any mind to cameras, or even attempt to hide what they are doing.  They sometimes take the stuff to a restroom, where the accomplice is waiting.  They don’t even bother trying to remove any Checkpoint Labels or other anti-shoplifting hardware.  The gatherer comes out of the restroom with the bag, while it’s actually the accomplice that has the concealed items with them.  Staff stops the first guy while the second guy gets away.  They may even choose to make this exchange right near the front door, anticipating the alarm sounding, so during the distraction the store staff again naturally detains the wrong person.  My solution to this may sound bad, but it makes more sense to stop this in its tracks.  Otherwise, productivity halts, reports have to be written, and court dates will loom if you are able to make a successful recovery during one of these scams.  The most likely scenario is second guy gets away, and you were too covered up dealing with the first guy to get any description or details about the one that got out anyway.   
Of course, you have to make sure it all jives with your immediate supervisor, but I say stop the first guy while it is in progress.  Before they even try to get past your Checkpoint Systems, take it all away from the one gathering, and put it behind the counter.  Show them who’s in charge.
For more information on Checkpoint Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

From small business to big box, all retailers have to have policies and guidelines to keep their operations going in the right direction. Cash control, hiring and training, and loss prevention measures, among other key business factors, should be consistent and fully understood by all members of your staff. I am a firm believer that employees should never quote policy in a customer service situation, but the company’s policies should be known and applied. These rules can sometimes be very stringent and restricting when it comes to how the staff can stop shoplifting issues. I work for a retail pharmacy, and our staff must meet several components before making a stop.

1. Only a member of management can make the stop.

2. The manager must see the person conceal merchandise.

3. They must be able to articulate exactly what the person has.  (for example: I need to speak to you about the bottle of ibuprofen in your pocket.)  

4. They must not lose sight of the suspect.  If sight is lost at any point, the person cannot be stopped.

5. The person must be past the point of purchase. (for example: Between the registers and the Checkpoint Systems pedestals.)

6. Employees may not exit the building to follow or question a suspected shoplifter. No physical contact with the suspect is allowed.

 

I could say I have followed these rules every time I have made a stop. But that would put me in jeopardy of being struck by lightning, so I won’t.  


Rules are made for good reasons. They are made to keep us, our customers, and our company safe. The thing is that sometimes you just can’t stick with them. Let’s say you are sitting in the office and you notice a suspicious character. They are darting around, filling a bag with expensive merchandise, like high end blue jeans. Or they have just emptied a couple of pegs of phone chargers or other electronics.  Do you really want to wait on them to make a run for it? The Checkpoint Systems will alarm and go berserk, but it will be too late. No, I am not saying to go accuse them of plotting to steal. Don’t ever do that. But there is nothing stopping you from approaching them and offering some excellent customer service. Let them know you know what’s going on. Tell them their basket or bag looks awful heavy and tell them you will put it behind the checkout counter for them to pay for when they are ready. Same thing goes if they just have a handful of those electronics. 

Take a look at the new trend of thieves coming in pairs. One gathers the merchandise while the other remains in the background. The staff is not even aware of the second person being part of this. The first one doesn’t pay any mind to cameras, or even attempt to hide what they are doing. They sometimes take the stuff to a restroom, where the accomplice is waiting. They don’t even bother trying to remove any Checkpoint Labels or other anti-shoplifting hardware. The gatherer comes out of the restroom with the bag, while it’s actually the accomplice that has the concealed items with them. Staff stops the first guy while the second guy gets away. They may even choose to make this exchange right near the front door, anticipating the alarm sounding, so during the distraction the store staff again naturally detains the wrong person. My solution to this may sound bad, but it makes more sense to stop this in its tracks. Otherwise, productivity halts, reports have to be written, and court dates will loom if you are able to make a successful recovery during one of these scams. The most likely scenario is second guy gets away, and you were too covered up dealing with the first guy to get any description or details about the one that got out anyway.   


Of course, you have to make sure it all jives with your immediate supervisor, but I say stop the first guy while it is in progress. Before they even try to get past your Checkpoint Systems, take it all away from the one gathering, and put it behind the counter. Show them who’s in charge.


For more information on Checkpoint Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Filed Under: antishoplifting Tagged With: , , , ,

Dishonest Employees And The Traits They Share

March 9, 2016 by Leave a Comment

theft (2)

At the height  of the United States recession back in 2008, employee theft and crimes committed by dishonest employees were at  the highest. Although the US and global economy seem to have been recuperating for a while, the theft committed by employees does not seem to abate.  Billions of dollars are lost to employee theft and shoplifting every single year, and many small  businesses cannot cope with the financial loss, and close their doors for good.  Hiring the right kind of employee can be an asset to your company, or a detriment to your business.  Look for more info. about this topic by following the links below.

 The Employee Investigation: Does It Pass the Smell Test? Part 2

The Traits of the Dishonest Employee Will Often Help Us to Identify Them.

In our last column we looked at the red flags indicating a large scale fraud or embezzlement was likely being committed by employees. Further exploring the elements of the employee investigation, we will now look at the behavioral indicators of the simple thief at work within the organization. Birds of a feather stick together—their behaviors and pasts are indicators of how they will act, and serve as predictors of future behavior.

While today’s analytics and data mining can quickly focus on anomalies in the numbers indicating probable theft problems, there was a time when investigators did not have this advantage. Some companies do not yet have these systems so it might be useful to go “old school” with our employee investigation and look for thieves by their behaviors.

Let’s take a look at the red flags we have found to be most useful in ferreting out the dishonest associate during the employee investigation. As we noted in our last column, there are great differences between an employee who is a thief and one who is a fraudster or embezzler. While at the end of the day both types are stealing from the organization, their methods are different as are the red flags indicating dishonesty.

Is Amazon Shaming Warehouse Workers Into Not Stealing?

Amazon allegedly uses silhouettes to get its point across.

Amazon could be shaming workers into not stealing products from its vast warehouses, according to a new report.

Amazon  AMZN 0.79%  uses flat-panel televisions, or in some cases, bulletin boards, to highlight each morning the workers it needed to fire or have arrested for stealing products at its warehouses, Bloomberg isreporting, citing interviews with nearly a dozen current and former Amazon employees. Those employees toldBloomberg that Amazon posts silhouettes containing the word “terminated.” Amazon then details what those people stole and how they did it, according to the report. Amazon will even provide details on its value.

The e-commerce giant did not respond to a request for comment on the Amazon report.

Warehouse workers have long used anonymous services, such as Glassdoor.com, as well as protests, to fight Amazon’s treatment. Indeed, the company has been the subject of a slew of protests outside its warehousing facilities over the years, most notably in Germany, where workers tend to strike during peak holiday seasons in hopes of increasing wages. Each time, Amazon has said that its shipments would not be affected and that its workers are paid fairly for their jobs.

OBPD attempts to help local businesses prevent shoplifting

Osage Beach
Retail loss is one of the most challenging aspects of doing business.According to the National Retail Federation, shoplifting accounts for 38 percent of an estimated $44 billion in retail losses each year. Inventory shrinkage includes shoplifting, employee/internal theft, administrative errors and vendor fraud or error.The Osage Beach Police Department wants to help area merchants slow that retail loss, a loss that ultimately is passed along to consumers.
The OBPD hosted a Meet and Greet Partnership Meeting recently with nine retailers to discuss retail theft issues, to give pointers and allow retailers to share tips and trends. Several area businesses, law enforcement, financial institutions and prosecuting attorneys were invited.
Sgt. Arlyne Page, communications officer with OBPD, said the department began a crime prevention program in 1981, and more recently has held meetings with Osage Beach Premium Outlet managers to coordinate prevention efforts among retailers. Target store management encouraged meetings last spring, and a month ago asked the OBPD to host a meeting on shoplifting and retail and digital fraud.

 

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Phones and the Theft of Time

March 9, 2016 by Leave a Comment

LPSI EVOLVE-Store Mobile App 2In the past when managers discussed employee theft they mostly talked about the tangibles.  They talked about their problems with staff stealing product, supplies and money – the physical things which can be touched and seen.

They would also discuss the problem of employees “standing around” and not doing their work.  However, this conversation was separate from the one about theft, it was about productivity.  But, with the arrival of smart phones the issue of productivity can’t be separated from the one of theft.  The theft of time, via lack of productivity, is increasing at a rapid rate. 

It’s seldom looked at that way because time is an intangible, it lacks physical substance.  Its boundaries are blurrier – an employee who would never think of stealing a shirt from the store has no qualms about using company time to buy, on her phone, a shirt from her favorite website.

The idea of who “owns” an employee’s time is an old argument.  There have been countless lawsuits and court decisions made over the years, trying to define it.  In the last few years there have been several landmark ones in the tech field.  On paper it can seem cut and dried, in practice it’s not. 

Especially now, when managers are encountering issues they’ve never had to deal with before.  The debate of where, how and when people on the job should have access to their phones is a new one, one with strong opinions and feelings on both sides.  Companies are struggling with it and most have yet to agree on, develop and enforce clear guidelines. 

At this time the issue is simple.  A company pays an employee for a block of time, and during that time they have the right to expect (within the labor laws) the worker to give his attention to the duties of the job, not his phone.  The business can enact and enforce policies that support this right.

Soon however, it’s going to become much more complicated.  Most of us know someone who’s too attached to their phone – a person who is losing or has lost the ability function without it.  Individuals who may need professional help to address their obsession (there’s a fierce argument in the medical community as to whether it’s an addiction or not).

In the next few years companies will have to link their phone/workplace access policies with their ADA and Mental Health policies.  Therefore, it’s vital that companies develop and enforce basic phone/workplace access policies and procedures now, because it’s only going to get more complicated.  Don’t let employees steal your company’s time; after all you paid for it.

Nicole Abbott is a professional writer who’s had over 150 articles published.  She’s a business consultant and former psycho-therapist with over 20 years of experience in mental health, business and addiction.  She’s a coach, lecturer, trainer and facilitator.  She has conducted over 200 workshops, trainings, presentations, seminars and college classes. 

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Workplace Violence

March 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment

theft (1)

Whether you are a small business owner or a company with hundreds of employees, the reality is simple.  Good employees are an asset to your company.  Some small business owners rely very much on a couple of employees in their business, and the daily tasks seem impossible to fulfill without those key employees. Monetary compensation, health insurance, and retirement accounts for those employees seem to be in accordance to the tasks they perform.  But, have you thought whether the security in your business is appropriate? Have you checked to see whether help is there if needed? Ensuring employees safety in the workplace should be a top priority for you, and your business.  To read more about this topic follow the links below.

Workplace Violence: The Tragedies Continue

How to protect yourself during an active shooter incident.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 7% of all workplace fatalities are the result of intentional homicide. While active shooter scenarios in the workplace are relatively rare, they result in fatal injuries more often than fires and explosions, getting caught in equipment or machinery, and exposure to hazardous substances combined. The latest statistics for full year 2014 indicate there were 403 workplace violence homicides, with 307 or 76% classified as intentional shootings. Nearly 17% of the victims were women, 83% were men. It’s true that armed robberies make up about half of all work-related homicides, but attacks by coworkers, students and relatives make up the rest.

Some incidents of extreme workplace violence are spectacular and receive wide media attention. The recent mass killings at a San Bernardino, California, office party and the August 2015 on-camera shooting of two journalists by one of their former colleagues come to mind. And it happened again just last week. Three people were killed and another 14 injured on February 25 in Hesston, Kansas. The gunman was a disgruntled employee.
Although it is hard to believe and probably the result of how incidents are categorized, the event widely described as one of the first workplace violence shootings in the United States occurred in 1989, when a disgruntled worker brought an AK-47 into the Standard-Gravure printing plant in Louisville, Kentucky and killed eight employees, then himself.

A Look at Workplace Violence in the United States

Fifteen people at a Kansas factory were shot, three of them killed, by a co-worker whom police say had also shot two other people as he drove toward the facility. The shooting at Excel Industries in Hesston, Kansas, was at least the fourth workplace shooting in the United States in the past 12 months alone. Some questions and answers about workplace shootings:

WHAT OTHER WORKPLACE SHOOTINGS HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS?

— Aug. 26, 2015: Alison Parker and Adam Ward of Roanoke, Virginia, TV station WDBJ were fatally shot by former employee Vester Lee Flanagan II during a live broadcast. The person they were interviewing was wounded. Flanagan fatally shot himself after a police chase.

— Feb. 23, 2015: An employee of armed security company Shields Business Solutions in Moorestown, New Jersey, opened fire on a co-worker inside the business before fatally shooting himself outside amid what police described as an “ongoing domestic situation.” Moorestown Police Lt. Lee Lieber said Edgar Figueroa killed himself after shooting Melvin Nieves four times.

— Feb. 12, 2015: Truck driver Jeffrey DeZeeuw got into an argument over a delivery with a supervisor at a Sioux Steel Co. location known as ProTec, in Lennox, South Dakota. DeZeeuw later returned, fatally shot the supervisor and wounded worker Kathy Steever. He also injured another employee, Brian Roesler, who confronted DeZeeuw and is credited with likely preventing more injuries or deaths. DeZeeuw then killed himself.

OSHA National Conference Addresses Workplace Violence

LAS VEGAS, NV – OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab provided the keynote address at a national conference of Veterans Administration hospital workers in Las Vegas last week.

The conference, held by the American Federation of Government Employees, brought together representatives and partners of the host organizations to update and educate them on key and emerging occupational safety and health issues.

Barab highlighted OSHA’s ongoing work with VA hospitals and other healthcare facilities to combat workplace violence, including the release last year of Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers*.

He also discussed the agency’s efforts to ensure that OSHA inspectors have the resources, training and tools necessary to conduct inspections in response to workplace violence.

Barab told the delegates that “care of our nation’s veterans is a national priority, but we also have to look out for the health and safety those who care for them. He added: “workplace violence remains a difficult and dangerous problem, particularly for those in healthcare settings.”

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Stop Shoplifting In The Future-Get All The Details

March 2, 2016 by Leave a Comment

 

Stop Shoplifting-4
Stop Shoplifting In The Future-Get All The Details
I just love the days we catch a thief at our store.  There is the rush of adrenaline right before making the stop, the return of valuable merchandise, and the satisfaction of seeing them taken away in handcuffs.  That’s what does it for me anyway.  Your business gets the reputation that you stop shoplifting, and word will start spreading in the community that your store takes action.
Then you have those days and weeks where it seems none of your anti-shoplifting measures are working.  You find empty packages or, even worse, empty shelves.  There seems to be a fresh new way thieves have come up with to get away with large amounts of high end items, and so far it has been pretty lucrative for them.  The thieves are working together, but not in the traditional manner where one is a lookout while the other is the bag stuffer.  Now thief #1 comes in and just goes through the store grabbing anything they want, stuffing it all into a bag, and absolutely not caring who is watching.  Then they go to the bathroom with the bag.  At this point, thief #2, whose presence you were not even aware of, takes the bag and runs out the door.  In some instances they are making this exchange at the front door right near the Checkpoint System.  When the alarm sounds, it is thief #1 that gets stopped, empty handed, while it is actually thief #2 that is getting away.
Unless you have that moment of pure luck where the police arrive at the exact right time and catch thief #2 with the stolen merchandise, this is going to be a tough one to defeat.  In this case, you may only have a reactive option, at least for the first instance.  There are steps you need to take if this does happen though, because it is still imperative that we all do our part to stop shoplifting.
1. Report the theft.  Even if you didn’t recover any merchandise, you need to make an official police report.  You can’t just wait and hope it doesn’t happen to your store again.  If these start occurring on a regular basis, a pattern may be seen.  They are more likely to be caught, and the police will have an easier time putting all the charges together.
2. Get every detail about the shoplifters.  Try to recall everything you can, whether from direct sight or through reviewing the video.  Did they have any visible tattoos or piercings?  Did they move or walk in an unusual way?  The day of the incident you obviously need to know what they were wearing, but don’t concentrate too much on things that can be changed.  Sometimes you do have that one thief that always wears the same ball cap or hoodie for every incident, so definitely try to identify any specific logos on their clothing.  
This includes their getaway car.  The color, make, and model are obvious things to look at. However, look for body damage, dents and paint color differences.  Is there a pin stripe down the side or not?  White wall or black wall tires?  Are all the tires the same?  They may not stop that vehicle the day of the theft, but the police will still have put out a BOLO, so you need all these specifications noted.
3. Call your other store locations within driving range.  Call your competition that sells similar items.  They want to stop shoplifting as much as you do, and if the thieves go there later that day, you have a better chance of recovering your merchandise before it is resold or incurs any possible damage.  Have this call chain set up and ready to put into action.  
Even when you and your team are doing everything you can to monitor your inventory, and using every anti-shoplifting tool at your disposal, you will still occasionally have the ones that get away.  And frankly, once the thieves get caught and see you have figured out this new method, they will come up with something else.  Get every detail you can about the people involved, the car they used, and get the word to their next potential target.  This will help stop shoplifting, and the better days will come more often where you get to go home and brag about the ones you did catch.
For more tools you can use to stop shoplifting, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

I just love the days we catch a thief at our store. There is the rush of adrenaline right before making the stop, the return of valuable merchandise, and the satisfaction of seeing them taken away in handcuffs. That’s what does it for me anyway. Your business gets the reputation that you stop shoplifting, and word will start spreading in the community that your store takes action.

 

Then you have those days and weeks where it seems none of your anti-shoplifting measures are working. You find empty packages or, even worse, empty shelves. There seems to be a fresh new way thieves have come up with to get away with large amounts of high end items, and so far it has been pretty lucrative for them. The thieves are working together, but not in the traditional manner where one is a lookout while the other is the bag stuffer. Now thief #1 comes in and just goes through the store grabbing anything they want, stuffing it all into a bag, and absolutely not caring who is watching.  hen they go to the bathroom with the bag. At this point, thief #2, whose presence you were not even aware of, takes the bag and runs out the door. In some instances they are making this exchange at the front door right near the Checkpoint System. When the alarm sounds, it is thief #1 that gets stopped, empty handed, while it is actually thief #2 that is getting away.

Unless you have that moment of pure luck where the police arrive at the exact right time and catch thief #2 with the stolen merchandise, this is going to be a tough one to defeat. In this case, you may only have a reactive option, at least for the first instance. There are steps you need to take if this does happen though, because it is still imperative that we all do our part to stop shoplifting.

1. Report the theft. Even if you didn’t recover any merchandise, you need to make an official police report. You can’t just wait and hope it doesn’t happen to your store again. If these start occurring on a regular basis, a pattern may be seen. They are more likely to be caught, and the police will have an easier time putting all the charges together.

2. Get every detail about the shoplifters. Try to recall everything you can, whether from direct sight or through reviewing the video. Did they have any visible tattoos or piercings? Did they move or walk in an unusual way? The day of the incident you obviously need to know what they were wearing, but don’t concentrate too much on things that can be changed. Sometimes you do have that one thief that always wears the same ball cap or hoodie for every incident, so definitely try to identify any specific logos on their clothing.  

 

This includes their getaway car. The color, make, and model are obvious things to look at. However, look for body damage, dents and paint color differences. Is there a pin stripe down the side or not? White wall or black wall tires? Are all the tires the same? They may not stop that vehicle the day of the theft, but the police will still have put out a BOLO, so you need all these specifications noted.

 

3. Call your other store locations within driving range. Call your competition that sells similar items. They want to stop shoplifting as much as you do, and if the thieves go there later that day, you have a better chance of recovering your merchandise before it is resold or incurs any possible damage. Have this call chain set up and ready to put into action.  

Even when you and your team are doing everything you can to monitor your inventory, and using every anti-shoplifting tool at your disposal, you will still occasionally have the ones that get away. And frankly, once the thieves get caught and see you have figured out this new method, they will come up with something else. Get every detail you can about the people involved, the car they used, and get the word to their next potential target. This will help stop shoplifting, and the better days will come more often where you get to go home and brag about the ones you did catch.

For more tools you can use to stop shoplifting, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Online Scams and How To Protect Yourself

February 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment


LPSI EVOLVE-Store Mobile App 2

According to the United States  Census Bureau’s annual population projections, the United States will have a 2015 estimated population of 320 million people.  Keeping that figure in mind, the statistics for credit card holders in the United States is 1,895,834,000. And the average amount of credit cards a holder has is 3.7.  With those figures in mind it is no wonder the security threat an American faces regarding identity theft, credit card theft and other related issues concerning security is great.  If you use a credit card or shop online, make sure that you always check your charges and alert the credit card company of any discrepancies you may see with your credit card bill.  For more news about this topic, follow the links below.

LP101: Establishing a Safety Culture is Critical to Safety in the Workplace

Leadership Must Establish and Maintain an Environment that Adopts Safety as a Core Value

An effective safety culture is widely accepted as being the essential component in the development and implementation any program supporting safety in the workplace. The safety culture reflects the attitudes, perceptions, values and beliefs that all employees within the organization share in regards to safety, and serves as a guide as to how safety is managed in the workplace.

Preventing accidents is about ensuring that everyone, regardless of their position in the organization, follows safe practices and safety procedures. A safety culture which actively engages everyone through personal responsibility instills the qualities that motivate employees to strive to achieve safety excellence. Rather than simply posting policies and procedures, safety is incorporated into our strategic plans and everyday mission.

An effective safety culture is an informed safety culture, and is the product of the values, perceptions, competencies, attitudes, and patterns of behavior that clarify the commitment and proficiency of the company’s safety management program. That vision calls for an absolute belief that every employee can help create and maintain a workplace free of illness and injury; demonstrated by an active commitment to safety in the workplace throughout the entire organization. When building this culture, management must establish and maintain an environment that adopts safety as a core value of the company, following fundamental safety principles:

How the ‘Ten Commandments’ of Cyber Security Can Enhance Safety

Hacker attacks such as the one on Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center show how easily digital platforms can be turned against organizations, but taking 10 steps can augment security, write RANE founder David Lawrence and his co-authors in this opinion piece.

Imagine you are admitted to a hospital for treatment of a serious but treatable illness, and then your records are stolen. The medical staff is now at a complete loss about your care. While the doctors are scrambling to figure out what to do, they soon realize that all the hospital’s records are missing and that someone is demanding that the hospital pay a ransom in exchange for their release. Now imagine further that the hospital has no alternative but to pay the demand (in Bitcoins) in order to ensure the safety of its patients.

One has to look no further than the recent attack on Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and other headlines to realize how quickly and easily our digital platforms can be used against us. While the Internet has delivered on its promise of global access and efficiency, it also accelerates and scales the darker forms of human activity — theft, fraud, extortion, blackmail, espionage (state and corporate), terrorism, insider trading, property destruction and criminal mischief. Soon, the Internet of Things (IoT) will even more seamlessly connect our devices to everything we need — as well as everything we need to fear.

Online Scams: How Can You Protect Yourself and Your Family?

Dear Carrie: My mother is quite independent and does a lot of her financial business online. I hear about fraudsters preying on seniors all the time and worry about her falling for a scam. How can I protect her?

Dear Reader: It seems there’s no limit to the imaginative scams that today’s fraudsters can come up with. Just when we’ve all become aware of the email from a “friend” purporting to have been robbed in some far-flung place and needing money, there’s the new scam threatening arrest if you don’t pay back taxes or the tech support scam or—you name it. Seniors are a prime target because they’re perceived as more likely to have assets—and perhaps less likely to be skeptical.

But financial fraud isn’t age specific; we’re all targets. When you consider that the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 269,422 complaints representing more than $800,000,000 in losses in 2014 alone (and it’s estimated that only 15 percent of victims report crimes), you start to understand the enormity of the problem.

So, while it’s great that you want to protect your mother, when it comes to the potential for being scammed, we all need to take heed. My advice would be to sit down with her— and the rest of your family — to discuss best practices for fraud protection both on and off the Internet.

 

 

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Grocery Store Wine Sales Or Shortage: Bottle Locks Make The Difference

February 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment

 

Bottle Locks – 5                                                                                                                       WC blog 49
Bottle Security – 5
Bottle Lock-3
Grocery Store Wine Sales Or Shortage: Bottle Locks Make The Difference
     As I do with nearly every store I go into I am interested to see the types of security measures different businesses use to prevent theft.  Recently I have visited three grocery stores affiliated with different chains. I looked at what they were doing to protect the wines they carry.  I find it interesting to compare bottle security strategies among the retailers.  In this case all three stores are within a 5 mile radius of my home and yet there were no similarities among any of them.  
     The first store I visited uses bottle locks to secure higher priced bottle of wines.  It appeared they set a price point around $25 per bottle before they used a bottle lock on their products.  The locks used covered the entire cap and part of the bottle neck.  There was no ability to see the advertising on the seal of the bottle with this particular device.  It did appear there was no way the cap or seal could be tampered with making this an effective deterrent tool.  
    The second store I visited used a lock up case to secure the higher priced wines.   There was no additional security for any of the other bottles of wine or champagnes on the shelves.  Two things disturbed me about this type of bottle security.  First, had someone been shopping for the higher priced wine, there were no empty places on the shelf or signage indicating a customer should ask for assistance to make a purchase.    Second, I saw no sales associates in the area.  Even if there was signage directing a customer to get help to obtain a wine in lock-up, I saw no one to assist and I did not see an apparent call button in the area.  
     Finally I went to a grocery store that had no bottle security whatsoever.  There were no bottle locks in use and no security cases.  The wine was located near the front of the store, in the vicinity of the registers, but there was no direct line of sight to act as a deterrent to potential theft.  I did look at the price points and there were few, if any, bottles priced over $20.  That being said, in my opinion this is a mistake on the part of the retailer.  The area this store is located has enough crime that the store has gone from being a 24/7 operation to closing at midnight and now closing at 11:00pm.  I know there is enough theft in this store that closed circuit television monitors have been placed on the baby formula aisle.  
     So here is my good, bad and the ugly of my observations and what I think a best strategy would be for a grocery store:
• The Good: The use of bottle locks in the first store.  A Bottle lock provides visual deterrence to theft, they are electronic article surveillance compatible and they allow a customer the ability to handle the merchandise, see the advertising and content information and there is no requirement to wait for someone to unlock a case.
• The Bad:  Limited use of bottle locks on only select price points.  Inconsistent use of the locks.  Where bottles did have locks on the caps, when I looked more closely, I found some were secured and behind those were same brand bottles without locks. I am also listing the use of a locking case as bad.  While it does provide bottle security it requires employee response and if a patron has to wait too long it can lead to a lost sale.
• The ugly:  No bottle security of any type.  This is not acceptable in my opinion.
If you own a grocery business or manage one, I strongly encourage you to invest in a bottle lock for each of your wine bottles.  While it may seem like a lot, the payoff will be in reduced shrinkage.  Shoplifters will steal unprotected merchandise so securing the higher priced merchandise simply moves the thieves to the cheaper bottles.  I do not encourage lock up cases to be used since they can turn off customers and potentially cost your business sales.  You also need to have an employee ready to respond at all times to unlock a case.  Don’t settle on just enough security or none at all, see how bottle locks can protect your investment and drive up sales.
For more information on bottle locks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
     

As I do with nearly every store I go into I am interested to see the types of security measures different businesses use to prevent theft. Recently I have visited three grocery stores affiliated with different chains. I looked at what they were doing to protect the wines they carry. I find it interesting to compare bottle security strategies among the retailers. In this case all three stores are within a 5 mile radius of my home and yet there were no similarities among any of them.  

 

The first store I visited uses bottle locks to secure higher priced bottle of wines. It appeared they set a price point around $25 per bottle before they used a bottle lock on their products. The locks covered the entire cap and part of the bottle neck. There was no ability to see the advertising on the seal of the bottle with this particular device. It did appear there was no way the cap or seal could be tampered with making this an effective deterrent tool.  

 

The second store I visited used a lock up case to secure the higher priced wines.  There was no additional security for any of the other bottles of wine or champagnes on the shelves. Two things disturbed me about this type of bottle security. First, had someone been shopping for the higher priced wine, there were no empty places on the shelf or signage indicating a customer should ask for assistance to make a purchase.   Second, I saw no sales associates in the area. Even if there was signage directing a customer to get help to obtain a wine in lock-up, I saw no one to assist and I did not see an apparent call button in the area.  

 

Finally I went to a grocery store that had no bottle security whatsoever. There were no bottle locks in use and no security cases. The wine was located near the front of the store, in the vicinity of the registers, but there was no direct line of sight to act as a deterrent to potential theft. I did look at the price points and there were few, if any, bottles priced over $20. The area this store is located has enough crime that the store has gone from being a 24/7 operation to closing at midnight and now closing at 11:00pm. I know there is enough theft in this store that closed circuit television monitors have been placed on the baby formula aisle.  

 

So here is my good, bad and the ugly of my observations and what a good strategy would be for a grocery store:

• The Good: The use of bottle locks in the first store. A Bottle lock provides visual deterrence to theft, they are electronic article surveillance compatible and they allow a customer the ability to handle the merchandise, see the advertising and content information and there is no requirement to wait for someone to unlock a case.

• The Bad: Limited use of bottle locks on only select price points.  Inconsistent use of the locks. Where bottles did have locks on the caps, when I looked more closely, I found some were secured and behind those were same brand bottles without locks. I am also listing the use of a locking case as bad.  While it does provide bottle security it requires employee response and if a patron has to wait too long it can lead to a lost sale.

• The ugly: No bottle security of any type. 

 

If you own a grocery business or manage one, I strongly encourage you to invest in a bottle lock for each of your wine bottles. While it may seem like a lot, the payoff will be in reduced shrinkage. Shoplifters will steal unprotected merchandise so securing the higher priced merchandise simply moves the thieves to the cheaper bottles. I do not encourage lock up cases to be used since they can turn off customers and potentially cost your business sales. You also need to have an employee ready to respond at all times to unlock a case. Don’t settle on just enough security or none at all, see how bottle locks can protect your investment and drive up sales.

 

For more information on bottle locks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

     

 

 

Filed Under: Security Tagged With: , ,

Safety First When Stopping a Shoplifter

February 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment

theft (3)

Safety should be the primary concern in any shoplifting detention at any retail store.  Unless the employees are trained individuals and know the laws concerning detention of a shoplifter, employees should be very wary of the repercussions associated with stopping a shoplifter.  Racial profiling is commonly used by retail stores to spot a shoplifter, and although it is extremely wrong and some stores have gotten sued because of it, the truth is you cannot spot a shoplifter by the way they look.  According to the Seattle  Police Department though, there are certain actions that are prevalent with a shoplifter: Nervousness, aimlessly walking around the store for long period of times, handling the merchandise, dropping the merchandise on the floor, etc., are some of these behaviors they display.  Stress safety first with your employees at all times when stopping a shoplifter.

For more about this and other stories, follow the links below.

Taking steps to prevent shoplifting

 In early July, $3,000 in designer dresses, slacks and jackets were stolen from ADORE Designer Retail Boutique in Cary, one of Nancy Alinovi’s two consignment shops in the Triangle. She still feels sick about it.

“It’s just this feeling in your chest,” she said. “It’s not a victimless crime.”

Alinovi said it will be two months before everything returns to normal at the family-owned boutiques, which cut prices in order to stay afloat after the theft. Her experience shows the toll shoplifting takes on small businesses, where margins are small and business is personal.

There were 582 calls to the Raleigh Police Department regarding shoplifting in the past year, said Jim Sughrue, department spokesman. They run the gamut from family-run gas stations to department stores, he said.

According to a National Retail Federation’s security survey, shoplifting accounted for 38 percent of the $44 billion in retail inventory loss due to crime in 2014.

Theft rings use returns to fund operations

TILTON — Next time you let a sales receipt blow away in a store parking lot, you might unwittingly be helping an organized retail crime ring fund its drug operations.
Those rings, often from other states, collect those discarded receipts, go into that store, gather items on the receipt and then take them to the return counter to get handed cash, according to Tilton police detective Nathan Buffington.
“I can tell you of the (organized retail crime) cases that we’ve dealt with, I don’t think we’ve had any that in some way, shape or form that haven’t come back to narcotics, whether it be again to fund narcotic operations, to help profit, to expand,” Buffington said after speaking at a symposium on the subject at Tilton School on Friday.
These rings use a variety of techniques to steal billions from stores annually.

Return fraud alone cost stores $10.85 billion in 2014, according to the National Retail Federation.

The rings “have a list of the stores that carry those items” they’re targeting, according to Nancy Kyle, president and CEO of the New Hampshire Retail Association. The rings often travel north along the East Coast, she said.

Cumbria police collar children as young as four for crimes

Primary school children across south and west Cumbria – aged between five and nine – have also committed crimes but are too young to be prosecuted.

Assaults, criminal damage, burglary, theft and shoplifting are among the shocking offences carried out by children, figures have revealed.

Cumbria police said that it was vital they spoke to these young people when they are at their most “susceptible” and they “do not realise the consequences of their actions”.

Police say interaction with the children can help make them understand that they are heading down a path which “could lead them to have a criminal record which could have an impact on their life, all for something they did when they were a child”.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that there were 60 crimes committed by under-10s in south Cumbria and six in Copeland.

The age of the youngsters mean police were unable to bring charges as the age of criminal responsibility in England is 10, meaning under-10s have to be released without charge.

The most common crime committed was assault, with 37 offences. This was followed by criminal damage with 12 incidents and six counts of theft.

 

 

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How to Deal with Retail Burnout

February 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment

theft (13)Burnout is an on-going, serious issue in the retail industry.  The industry is so immense and pervasive that all of us, even if we’ve never working in retail, have knowledge of and experience with the problem.

Personally, some of you may be currently struggling with it or have in the past.  If you haven’t personally experienced it you probably know friends and family who have.  Finally, we’ve all had unpleasant interactions (many, many times) with burnt out sales clerks, managers or customer service reps.

Last month we looked at why “Retail Burnout Matters” preventshopliftingloss.net/retail-burnout-matters/.  This month we’re going to look at how an individual can deal with it at a professional level.

There are many causes and symptoms of burnout.  One of the most universal symptoms is a feeling of being stuck.  The first place to start if you’re feeling trapped is with a plan of how to get free.  People who feel caught often do damage to others and themselves when they try to get unstuck without a well thought out plan.   

The first thing you can do is plan how to stay where you are.  You may want to stay with the same company in the same store, but need to learn (traditional/online classes, TED talks, books, short term therapy, etc) some stress management techniques to improve your outlook.  Many times if you change your attitude and coping skills it’s enough to make the situation better.

Or you may need to plan the next step.  Boredom, complacency and restlessness, when not addressed, are often the causes of stress.  What kind of change do you need (i.e. sell jewelry rather than candles, increased/decreased level of responsibility, go to a different store with the same company, go to a different company, work in a small boutique or a big box)?

Finally, you may need to plan to leave the field.  Retail may no longer, or never has been, your career of choice.  If so, then it’s time to figure out how, when and where to from here.  For many people establishing some sort of forward momentum, no matter how small, is enough to lessen the trapped feeling. 

Having a plan and actively, consciously working that plan is key to alleviating burnout, but it’s not easy.  However, the alternative is to stay miserable, and as choices go choosing to stay unhappy is a poor one.  As Yoda said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” 

Nicole Abbott is a professional writer who’s had over 150 articles published.  She’s a business consultant and former psycho-therapist with over 20 years of experience in mental health, business and addiction.  She’s a coach, lecturer, trainer and facilitator.  She has conducted over 200 workshops, trainings, presentations, seminars and college classes. 

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