Business Development | Vulnerability

3 Ways Businesses Can Ward Off the Terrors of Halloween

October 30, 2019 | 3 min read
Halloween 2019

Darkness falls across the land. The midnight hour is now at hand. Creatures crawl in search of blood, to commit theft, property damage and make bad choices in your neighborhood.

Halloween — one of the scariest nights of the year for business owners — is coming up. It may be a beloved holiday, but Halloween lives up to its frightening reputation: there are more crime-related insurance claims filed on Halloween than on any other day.

So what can you do to make sure that your staff and your business aren’t too haunted by Halloween happenings? The answer isn’t garlic, stakes, or zombie barricades.

Instead, it’s best to start by asking yourself some questions going into Halloween:

  • Is your business directly affected by the holiday? (Do you have a retail store that will be engaging in a downtown trick or treat activity, for example.)
  • Does your business own any abandoned buildings?
  • Are your employees and their families engaging in seasonal activities?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, read on for tips to keep your assets safe from toil and trouble this Halloween.

What innovations will help you limit theft and damage? Find out here.

Let the Right Ones In

If you’re in retail, you’re likely to see some ghoulies and ghosties in your store this Halloween, especially if you’re doing a trick or treating event or just giving out candy.

Unfortunately, wherever there are bags, masks and a lot of foot traffic, there’s a chance of property loss. People in costumes might decide to do some light shoplifting, teens might make some bad choices, and you could be left holding the bag.

To prevent this, staff up. Make sure you have plenty of employees on the retail floor, and teach them how to engage in aggressive customer service. This means actively engaging loiterers, asking them questions, offering to help them find something, and simply putting a spotlight on people who look like they might steal.

The Nightmare Before Halloween

The night before Halloween is often more of a worry to businesses than Halloween itself. October 30, called Mischief or Devil’s Night (or Angel’s Night, as the city of Detroit rebranded it in the ‘90s after a string of arson incidents), is usually the time when things go bump in the night: it’s often used as an excuse for vandalism: arson, tagging, egging and other property damage is common.

While there’s very little you can do to prevent a good toilet-papering, you can prevent arson with a fire prevention and detection system that links directly to the fire department so they can get to your site quickly.

You can also have cameras in place to catch vandals in the act, and staff on standby to replace broken windows or paint over tags quickly. When a building is vandalized, often other people don’t feel so bad about adding additional tags or breaking more windows.

Why is it so important to partner with first responders? Learn more here.

(Safe) Paranormal Activities

Your employees are your business’s most important assets, so it’s important to do what you can to keep them — and their families — safe both at work and outside of it.

One way to do that is to encourage your employees to drive safely: Halloween means parties for grown-ups and trick-or-treating for families, and cars can cause issues when it comes to both of those activities. Party-goers may drink before getting behind the wheel and risk accidents. Kids, over-excited by Halloween, can forget to look both ways before crossing the street, so it can be helpful to send out basic safety information before letting employees go out to their Halloween plans.

It’s also helpful to remember, if you’re putting out treats at work and at home, that some children suffer from peanut or other allergies, so be sure to offer a variety of treats so everyone can snack safely.

The power of business continuity risk planning compels you!

Remember: The best security plan is one that doesn’t change during a crisis — or a holiday.

In other words, you want to make sure that your business is protected from things like vandalism or theft all the time. Cameras, guards, and fire prevention and detection is important year-round, not just one or two nights in October.

Keeping garlic, magic amulets, and stakes on hand to ward off creatures of evil, however? Whether you want to do that year-round is more of a personal choice.

What improvements should make to your security to ensure that you’re protected all year long? Learn more by subscribing to our blog.

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