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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Human Resources, Incident Reporting, Workplace Violence

  Did you see the article in the USA Today last week regarding TSA keeping a database of pushy flyers? The pushy fliers program was launched in 2007 to help prevent the nation’s 50,000 airport screeners from being attacked or threatened.  TSA officials voiced concern about passengers disrespecting screeners so they began issuing new uniforms with police style badges pinned to shirts.  According to the article, the database has records from about 240 incidents and most are screeners in conflict with other screeners and 30 incidents involve passengers or airport workers attacking or threatening screeners. Based on my experiences leaving a New York area airportRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Emergency Management, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety, Workplace Violence

  A recent report from the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) has revealed that since 1995, a much higher percentage (33%) of terrorist attacks in the United States were conducted by unaffiliated individuals, rather than by organized groups. From the Oklahoma City bombing to more recent attacks like Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, and the University of Alabama, another commonality has also been revealed; in 80% of the incidents, red flags and warning signs exist, but are often not identified. There are many reasons red flags go unreported.  Victims or bystanders may fear retaliation or theyRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Human Resources, Incident Reporting, Information Privacy, Information Security, Risk Management

  Recently, Awareity’s CEO, Rick Shaw, was asked to present at the Infotec conference in Omaha.   During his presentation, “The Truths (and Myths) About Assessments, Planning and Implementing”, Rick discussed the three-legged stool each organization is sitting on, and the importance of all three legs (Assessments, Planning/Developing and Implementing). Most organizations understand the importance of assessments and planning, but where many fail to deliver is in the implementation phase.   As we have seen with numerous headlines and lessons learned, a failure to implement can lead to expensive fines, lawsuits, breaches and losses.  Rick used a case study for CVS Caremark.   Due to employees carelessly tossingRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, Human Resources, Incident Reporting, Legal, Regulatory Compliance, School Safety

  I blogged a few weeks ago about the parent suing the Ottawa Catholic School Bard for $325,000, alleging the school failed to protect her child from repeated acts of bullying.  Two more lawsuits have recently made the headlines and school leaders are probably wondering, “Will we be next?” In Australia, a teenage girl was awarded $290,000 in compensation by the Education Department after years of harassment and bullying at school left her a physical and emotional wreck. The girl’s parents had pleaded with the school principal to protect their daughter, and held regular discussions with teachers and the school chaplain.  But the school failedRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Emergency Management, Incident Reporting, Legal, Workplace Violence

  Have you noticed recently how the media, safety experts and government leaders are focusing on the failure of organizations to connect-the-dots and the failure to identify red flags prior to emergency and crisis situations occurring? And have you noticed these failures have been going on for years?  Virginia Tech administrators received warnings of Cho’s mental instability prior to the tragic shooting that left 23 students dead.    The Fort Hood shooter revealed multiple red flags ignored in a failure to share critical information.  Most recently, the University of Alabama professor revealed a past full of violent tendencies, mental illness and criminal activities. Why are soRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Emergency Management, Incident Reporting, Risk Management

  Safety and security programs depend on getting the right information to the right people in the right place at the right time so individuals can make better decisions. Recently, a story involving several schools in Missouri provided multiple lessons learned involving safety. The situation started when a national alert from the FBI was sent out to law enforcement on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Missouri School Board Association, who operates the Missouri Alert Network, then issued an alert to schools at 11:50am saying the national alert targeted a Missouri School and as a result three schools inRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Human Resources, Incident Reporting, Information Security

  Did you see the FINRA news release last week announcing guidance for securities firms and brokers regarding the use of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs to communicate with their investors? Securities firms and brokers are now required to develop their own customized policies and procedures to ensure all personnel are complying with regulatory requirements when using social networking sites and that their online recommendations are suitable and not misleading to investors.  Firms and brokers must have a general policy prohibiting any associated person from engaging in business communications in a social media site that is not subject to the firm’sRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Emergency Management, Incident Reporting, Risk Management

  I re-read this NTSB story a couple times and it still left me scratching my head…installing cameras will prevent what? The USA Today article stated: The NTSB found that the Sept. 12, 2008, crash between commuter and freight trains that killed 25 people was caused by an engineer who sped through a stop signal as he was texting. The engineer, who died in the crash, had been warned about cell phone use on the job twice before. Accident investigators uncovered such egregious behavior by train operators in the fatal 2008 accident near Los Angeles that they suggested Thursday that all railroads monitor crews withRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Information Privacy, Information Security, Regulatory Compliance

We have all heard the wise old saying….’One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ and potentially we have yet another lesson learned for organizations who are obligated to protect their client’s personal information. In this lesson learned from Ohio, three large storage bins were stolen from outside of three different bank branches in three different cities.  Each of the three large storage bins contained paper that was waiting to be shredded and at least one of the storage bins contained personal documents of bank customers. A few questions this incident brings to mind: Should personal data be stored outside of buildings? Should trash/storage bins beRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Information Privacy, Regulatory Compliance

If you were busy getting your costume ready for Halloween, you might have missed the news release from HHS on October 30, 2009.  This news release should be taken seriously by all covered entities and organizational leaders that have responsibilities for protected health information (PHI) The news release announces that HHS has issued an interim final rule to strengthen its enforcement of the rules within HIPAA to conform to the HIPAA enforcement regulations made by the HITECH Act. As you may remember, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)Read More →