Protecting Site Personnel
From Our Latest Riskboss Whitepaper Series
By Quintin Johnstone, Founder & CEO of Samsonshield Inc. / Riskboss Inc.
As described by Wikipedia, “Elephant in the Room” is an American English metaphorical idiom for an obvious problem or risk that no one wants to discuss.” Controversial yes; however, very necessary conversation(s) here at Riskboss Magazine. In every publication, Riskboss Magazine will address the latest Elephant in the Room to clearly answer hard asked questions.
The tragic shooting incident on December 18, 2022, at the Bellaria Residences Condominium in Vaughan (Bellaria), Ontario continues to impact the public psyche in Ontario. What is commonplace in many places around the world landed in our residential condominium landscape. There have been shootings in condominiums like the many at Airbnb downtown Toronto sites, but never the scale of this mass execution-style murder of Board members. Are people worried? Yes, they are.
Since the Bellaria shooting, Riskboss has been inundated with requests for information on what prudent measures should be taken to protect property managers, Board members and other site personnel. In response to these inquiries, Riskboss created a White Paper on best practices that when implemented, will make your condominium community more resilient against unwanted attention and aggression, and better prepare you to deal with emergencies when such incidents occur.
Riskboss offers the following information from our latest White Paper free of charge to clients and non-clients alike in the hope of assisting to make condominium settings a much better and risk-free place to live.
Riskboss has been engaged in conducting comprehensive condominium risk assessments for well over a decade. With over seventy-five large and small scale site assessments being completed, Riskboss has been able to accumulate, analyze and determine best practices for all types of circumstances that condominium communities may possibly face.
During these assessments Riskboss has also analyzed unfortunate incidents that have negatively affected these communities, many of which have severely stigmatized the reputation of the condominium. Riskboss often finds that in most of these cases, the causes were both predictable and preventable.
Despite the best of intentions, poor decision making, getting/ giving bad advice, rushing to inaccurate conclusions, using unaccredited resources in creating processes, governance and training, avoiding responsibilities, and people extending far past their roles are just a number of things that have compounded and contributed to the negative impacts complicating such incidents.
here is no need to become an alarmist about these situations. When dealt with properly assisted by accredited professionals, risk mitigation and emergency preparedness is both seamless and completely invisible until critical incidents actually occur.
The following information will help get you and your community started to a place of comfort that everything that can be done, will be done in preparing for major incidents. This article should be considered an introduction to risk mitigation and should be used only as a starting point in the process. The focus of this article is on operational readiness and emergency preparedness that can improve the safety and security of condominium site personnel.
For more information on this and other important information on reducing risk in condominium living settings, please go to www.riskbossmagazine.com.
Mental Health in Condominiums
Much has been written about mental health in condominiums. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as:
“Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. Mental health conditions include mental disorders and psychosocial disabilities as well as other mental states associated with significant distress, impairment in functioning, or risk of self-harm. People with mental health conditions are more likely to experience lower levels of mental well-being, but this is not always or necessarily the case. Individual psychological and biological factors such as emotional skills, substance use, and genetics can make people more vulnerable to mental health problems.”
The Ontario Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) reports that one in five Canadians will have a mental illness or an addiction problem at some point in their lives.
It is an absolute certainty that Board members, property managers and on-site staff will have to deal with people with mental health issues during their working hours. The question is, “Are you properly prepared?”
Emergency Preparedness
It is important to note that relying solely on emergency services as the first line of defense is not a generally accepted standard of preparedness for large buildings, especially residential communities. Due to dramatic increases in GTA population and the reduction of funding for emergency services over the past decade, it will likely take much longer for emergency responders to react to site emergencies, particularly large-scale incidents. In critical incidents seconds can count.
Calling 911 and waiting for emergency services to arrive is not the standard of care that is expected in high rise communities. Site personnel should therefore be prepared to react quickly and effectively to all emergencies whether it be a building disaster or an active aggressor prior to emergency services arriving.
Riskboss recommends not to rely exclusively on the Fire Safety Plan for guidance on emergency preparedness. The Fire Safety Plan is a very small piece of the emergency preparedness toolbox.
The time to look up procedures and processes is not when an emergency is actually taking place. This means that regular training on resilient professional processes and governance must be a key element in your success strategy. Process, governance, and training should be resilient against any and all mental health challenges that your community may face. This can be anything from disorderly behaviour to resident hoarding. Active aggressor, shelter in place and designated site command center location(s)/protocols for emergency responders should be part of your site emergency preparedness toolbox.
Riskboss recommends getting your processes in order first by commissioning an independent comprehensive risk assessment. Risk assessments should not be conducted by contracted security companies unless accredited to engage in such an analysis. If your risk assessment company engages in the practice of, or pushes to refer CCTV, lighting, access control (etc.) companies, you know you have the wrong firm conducting your risk analysis. Risk assessments must be completely independent and completed by industry professionals without exception.
Next, get an accredited source to write governance based on resilient processes. And lastly, have a certified professional train all site personnel on that governance. To ensure your community is ready for emergencies this must be done in that order.
Property managers should never be placed in a position to create such plans, write governance, or conduct emergency training as they are neither qualified nor certified.
Emergency Response Critical Information Management
Riskboss is partnering with Safe Buildings to embark on installing new technology at high rise sites. This new technology revolutionizes emergency response information. This system dramatically reduces time to obtain and review critical site information thereby improving response for emergency services during critical incidents.
Effective information management is a critical success factor to responses of critical incidents and other site emergencies.The Safe Buildings EMS Response Portal System provides critical infrastructure & site information to arriving emergency responders saving valuable time focusing EMS responders’ efforts. Emergency responders use the encrypted/secure QR Code on the Fire Safety Plan to access all floor plans and emergency contact information. Please contact us at www.riskboss.com for further details.
Remaining Within Clearly Defined Roles
Board members and property managers are perceived by many in high rise communities as having a position of power and influence that may have an impact or control over their lives. For some people, this perception is their reality. It is critical that Board members and property managers remain within their respective roles. Riskboss recommends never to stray or extend beyond what is expected and required by law as you may become the subject of unwanted attention and possible harm.
When dealing with people with mental health issues that are exhibiting behaviour that is affecting others, or where there may be a cause for concern, the role of property managers is strictly limited to being fact collectors, never acting as an investigator or trying to diagnose incidents or rushing to judgment/conclusions. Board members are decision makers and should never, under any circumstances engage directly with matters that property management and other site personnel are clearly defined, trained, licensed, and certified to handle and administrate.
Using resources like corporate lawyers to help guide you to stay within clearly defined roles will be better serve the community and also, protect against unwanted negative attention. Please be aware that when anyone extends past clearly defined roles, corporate errors and omission insurance may be negatively affected or possibly voided.
Command and Control / Single Source / Centralized Direction
Centralized command structures should always be adhered to in condominiums. Board members are policy makers and while not in an actual meeting, are residents like everyone else. Property managers should be the central clearing house for all communication and direction without exception. Front line workers take direction only from property management and provide feedback to property management.
Effective communication is one of the most important areas of focus when conducting Riskboss risk assessments. The practice of command and control being delivered multilayered (By management, Board, and service providers at the same time) is difficult if not impossible to administer to ensure clear unfiltered direction and feedback.
Single source direction provides two things: consistency and control. These are critical success factors in all organizations, not just condominiums. In highly effective organizations:
- Directors set policy and direct managers
- Managers create direction based on policy
- Supervisors supervise on manager’s direction
- Workers do the work as prescribed
Managing Expectations & Control of Information
The anticipation that those with mental health challenges will immediately adhere to direction from the corporation is both unrealistic and will inevitably lead to unrealized expectations and frustration.
In such cases, expect a slower response in compliance. Aggressive attempts and intervention may lead to an escalation in negative behaviour and unwanted attention. Inevitably some condominium residents living with mental health challenges may not be able to fully comprehend and understand common obligations of living in a high-density environment. As such, they will have no perspective or reference point on adherence to building rules and social norms.
Language barriers, substance abuse ,and dependence can aggravate those living with mental health challenges limiting the effectiveness of those trying to help and intervene. Corporations must be prepared to deal with such circumstances using tried, tested, and preplanned approaches so that behaviour does not lead to critical incidents. This includes communication strategies to affected residents so that their behaviour does not aggravate an already negative situation.
Chat Room Style Web-Based Social Media
Social media very often leads to negative commentary that sparks incorrect and inflammatory communication that can lead to unintended consequences and certainly, unwanted attention. In short, Riskboss highly recommends that Board members and property managers never engage and stay away from online forums as part of their roles.
All resident concerns must go through property management in writing without exception. Riskboss does not recommend social media-style chat rooms as these cannot be centrally controlled and are predominantly anonymous. Property management firms that had previously launched social networking sites in condominiums (e.g., Bazinga, and other web-based chat room programs), are now moving away from these formats, and for very good reason.
Feedback from organizational managers and Boards is that maintaining and reacting to online forums monopolizes too much time and circumvents traditional and methods of complaint investigation. Follow-up can be better maintained and controlled through property management as sources of information can be verified.
CCTV / Audio
Sites should be properly prepared for all major incident emergencies and be able to effectively provide evidence when asked or compelled to do so. CCTV/audio camera optimization should be a high priority as a first step to mitigating risks.
Strategically placed CCTV/audio can lead to very effective and preventative outcomes. There should always be both CCTV visual and audio at the security desk and property management office. All business telephones should be recorded. Property management, Board member and site personnel parking spots should have CCTV camera surveillance. Such surveillance is not only legal, but prudent, and highly necessary in all condominium settings.
Key Control – Property Management Office
Riskboss often finds that the property management office is not controlled as well as it should be. The property management office contains critical, highly sensitive and private information for the corporation. The office should be secured with a very high-grade deadbolt lock. The access key for the property management should be unique to the site. The key should be managed in a separate lockbox at the security desk or beside the property management office door anchored to the wall with the code only accessible by property management personnel.
Criminal Background Checks & Photo Identification
On site personnel must interact each and every day with corporation contractors (HVAC, elevator, snow removal, plumbers, landscaping, etc.). Security companies by Ontario standards must have all their employees screened with a criminal background check prior to employment. It is important to note that other service providers and contracted personnel working in condominium communities have a remarkably high level of access to all areas of the site, information, and in many circumstances, this includes access to residential units.
It is highly recommended that all contracts for site service providers and site contractors include the necessity for criminal background checks for people working on site. This along with other similar preventative measures will assist to make the community a safer place to live and work.
As a further mitigation to risk, all site contractors (regardless of those hire by the corporation or unit residents) should be required to provide photo identification (to be scanned) prior to being allowed to work at the site.
Workplace Abuse & Harassment
Workplace harassment is defined as, “Engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.” Despite the law in Ontario being explicitly clear, and the obligations to act immediately when incidents of workplace harassment occur, Riskboss remarkably finds too often that condominium corporations either do not have such a program in place or do not take the appropriate steps when such incidents occur.
To guard against any initial or escalating negative attention to Board members or site employees a clearly defined and communicated workplace harassment program is not only recommended but it is required by law. When incidents of workplace abuse and harassment occur, the law demands that these incidents be dealt with quickly and effectively. Handling such incidents professionally will reduce the likelihood of any reoccurrence, and the risk of unwanted attention will be greatly minimized. It should be noted that property managers are neither trained nor licensed to conduct major investigations and as such, the corporation lawyer should be called when major incidents occur.
Preparing for the Inevitable – Document & Secure All Evidence
Time and time again condominium corporations find themselves embattled in lengthy and very expensive judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings leading to Boards and managers having to justify processes and vulnerabilities in their communities. These can range from civil actions due to for example, slip and fall incidents to attending Corner’s Jury Inquests regarding deaths by drowning in swimming pools.
Most of these processes were the direct result of site incidents These battles almost always negatively impact communities and very often result in severe consequences both financially and by way of community stigmatization.
When attending such proceedings lawyers will work through their tried and tested checklist of questions. The following are questions that lawyers will ask governors and managers alike when dealing with errors and/or omissions that were the direct or indirect causes of such events.
| What did you (or didn’t know)? When did you know about it? What did you do about it? | When did you do it? Who did you tell? |
At Riskboss, we are always here to assist property managers. We are just a call away.
We can also come to your site for a free, no-obligation 30-minute tour to provide some guidance on risk identification and mitigation.
To learn more about Riskboss, go to: www.riskboss.com/ca