If you operate any bricks and mortar business, there is an unspoken duty of
care you, as a business owner, have towards your staff safety.
Crime continues to be rife in the Goldfields region with fresh stats illustrating the
importance of prioritising safety and security - now more than ever before - from a
residential and commercial perspective.
With the cost of living and interest rates on the rise – we can only anticipate crime
stats to climb in the coming months and want to help your business put your best
foot forward in mitigating risks to protect your people, store and assets.
But first, let’s take a look at recent figures listed on the WA Police website (at the
time we publish this article) which states in the nine-month period between January-
September 2022 in the Goldfields-Esperance district, there were:
3 robberies to businesses
248 burglaries to non-dwellings
70 incidents of threatening behaviour (non-family)
92 incidents of possessing a weapon to cause fear (non-family)
307 incidents of stealing from a retail premises
632 incidents of damage to property
25 graffiti incidents
This is a sizeable count of offences, and as a security specialist, there’s nothing we
dislike more than see businesses fall victim to crime and suffer from the fallout.
The truth is no matter what industry you’re in, whether that’s hospitality, retail, health
and wellness, trades, finance – bricks and mortar or online – there will be an element
of risk and it’s important to be aware of these and have a water-tight strategy on how
to mitigate this (and game-plan on how to manage emergency situations).
Risks to businesses
So, what are some of the offences taking place across businesses – large and small
– in the Kalgoorlie region?
The biggest, most notable crimes we’ve heard happening around town recently
include:
Theft of products and/or money from businesses, staff and/or patrons
Vandalism and damage to property from graffiti / groups of people throwing
rocks through windows or falling through shop windows during physical altercations
Staff safety – harassment, verbal and physical attacks to staff
Break-ins during out of office hours
The severity varies from a few things stolen in store, light vandalism, through to
thousands of dollars in damage and lost goods/money.
As business owners ourselves, we understand the pressures that come with running
a business. We know all of you are pouring your hearts into what you do so we want
to help protect the businesses you’ve built and, of course, your people.
Risk mitigation measures
While there isn’t a magic wand to eliminate crime altogether, and only so much you
can do when opening a business to the public, we do recommend all businesses
conduct a professional risk assessment (ideally before they start trading) to be
reviewed on an annual basis.
A proactive approach to safety will foresee potential risks and vulnerabilities you’re
open to, and highlight the individual threats unique to your business and
strategies/solutions to counteract these depending on your store location, operating
hours, industry and services/products provided, whether cash is carried on premises
etc.
This part of the process is an important measure not only for your business bottom
line but as a duty of care for you and your staff safety.
In addition to assessing the risks, your risk assessment will take into account
emergency planning, compliance, the effectiveness of any existing control measures,
and any further items to action. For example, these could include:
Installing security cameras inside and outside the premises as a physical deterrent (and optimum placement for these)
Having a panic/duress button staff can push in the event of an emergency
which could be linked to Police, who will dispatch officers immediately, or a security company of choice
Barriers on doors/windows (the downside to this is it conceals products)
Security stickers displayed as a deterrent
Mirror placements
Installing theft detection systems at the entrance to your store
Having a physical guard on site (if needed)
A risk assessment will also take a deep dive into the types of criminals that may be
drawn to the business.
How we can help
As a Kalgoorlie security company, we help businesses across the entire Goldfields
region with their security needs from small businesses, bars and clubs, large-scale
events through to industrial sites and mining operations.
Our job is to leverage our expertise to keep your business protected and alleviate
any risks and threats.
For all Kalgoorlie businesses that run a bricks and mortar shopfront, we recommend
getting in touch to learn more about our Risk Assessments.
How does it work? We can come out to your business, take a look around, and
provide our expert recommendations and advice and all the documentation you need
so you know you’re best protecting your people and assets.
For hospitality and high-risk premises, we also have an experienced team of physical
guards who can be mobilised to your site for physical patrols.
Over to you
If you’re interested in improving security and safety at your business, we’d love to
hear from you, and we invite you to call us on 0404 449 326 or email
info@goldfieldssecurityservices.com.au.
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