AutoZone identifies survival rooms, emergency teams for active shooter program

By Leischen Stelter, SecurityDirectorNews.com

When AutoZone developed its workplace violence and active shooter program, it purposely designed it to be all-encompassing. “We intentionally stayed away from training that was specific to position or title,” said Chuck Bryant, director of security and investigative operations at AutoZone, an autoparts franchise. “We didn’t want to have an active shooter program for managers, an active shooter for senior managers, an active shooter program for other ranks and files. We wanted it to be universal and something that could be applied and shared with everyone.”

The company also wanted to personalize the training and provide its employees with information they could use at work as well as in their personal life, Bryant said during an Aug. 5 webinar, “Surviving the Active Shooter,” hosted by the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Doing so meant changing the mindset of personnel and getting them to constantly prepare for an incident at any moment. A big part of this is playing what Bryant calls, “the what if” game. “Where you’re sitting right now, what if you heard shots fired down the hallway?” he said. He encourages employees to always know where the nearest exit is as well as secondary and tertiary exits.

As part of its active shooter program, AutoZone has trained some employees to be part of its emergency response team. The company has two to three ERT employees on each floor in all of its facilities who receive medical training and are equipped with emergency radios. “They’ll become our eyes and ears on each of the floors so they can direct police and also evacuate our people. We want to make sure we’re not evacuating in the direction of the shooter,” he said. “We have a short amount of time to get a lot of information out and it’s important to have these team members so we have coverage at all times.”

The company has also trained its employees about “survival rooms” in the building. These are rooms that can be locked from the inside and have no windows. The company stores medical supplies, food and water in these rooms. “This is for people who have to evacuate, but can’t get out of the building. They can get into a survival room and barricade themselves in there,” he said.

It has also trained employees about what to do should an incident occur. “Don’t expect law enforcement to be there to rescue you. You are on your own. They’ll be there probably when it’s over,” he said. The physical response can also surprise people. “Prepare for a fight or flight response, you can’t control it, it’s automatic and hardwired to your brain,” he said. Employees are trained to control their breathing so they don’t hyperventilate, to expect to lose dexterity as well as a reduction in their peripheral vision and hearing.

Developing a strong workplace violence prevention program takes a lot of work at the upper tiers of management. “It has to be on the radar of senior management so it continues to be a successful program. You can’t wait until something happens and then react to it,” he said.

A significant part of that preparation is building trust with employees so that they can safely report concerns or incidents to management. “As a company, we have to encourage people to come forward and know that the information they provide will be reviewed and investigated and will be kept with utmost confidentiality,” he said. Often, employees will have bits of information that don’t necessarily demand a response on their own, but several employees reporting different information are often enough to garner action by an employer.

And, similarly, managers have to be properly trained about how to respond to information. “You have to train management to recognize flags and how to report it. If they don’t know the proper conduit and how to pass it along, information could just die right there,” he said.

It’s also important to build strong relationships with law enforcement. Bryant encourages regular walk-throughs with police. The company also provides police with a notebook of its floor plans along with a master key so police have all the details about the building.

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