Keeping Your Business and Workplace Safe During the Holidays

According to TAL Global, a security consulting and risk management firm based in Silicon Valley, California, the winter holiday season is one of the riskiest times of the year for businesses. The company has shared the following safety threats you should be aware of as the holidays approach, in order to keep your business and workplace safer:

Workplace violence

Workplace violence tends to increase during the holidays due to several factors, including added stress, lack of sleep, increased pressure at work, risk confrontation, and tensions at home. All of these factors can lead to workplace violence, but they increase during the holiday season.

Office burglaries

If you’ve ever wondered if office burglaries go up during the holiday season, the answer is yes. Going back more than a decade, reports indicate that burglaries jump—often dramatically—during the holidays. Retailers are the most negatively impacted, but warehouses, distribution centers, construction sites, bars, and restaurants have all reported an increase in burglaries, especially right after the holidays.

Auto theft

The National Insurance Crime Bureau keeps tabs on all types of crime throughout the year. Invariably they report that auto thefts increase during the holidays. The holidays in which vehicle theft is the highest are the following:

• New Years Day (tops the list)
• New Years Eve
• Christmas Eve
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day.

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment often increases during the holiday season, especially at company parties. This kind of harassment can involve unwanted touching, grabbing, poking, sexual jokes, and remarks. Individuals who are usually well-behaved might cross the line at a holiday party, especially if they are under the influence of alcohol. Serving more food and less alcohol at company parties this holiday season might minimize this problem.