False Fire Alarms & Planning for 2011

Toronto's Fire Services is planning for an unprecedented change to invoicing buildings and homes for "false, nuisance, and malicious" alarms.

Currently each location is granted one "false, nuisance, or malicious alarm" in any rolling 2 month period.  The department wants to change that to zero and massively increase the amount they bill in 2011.

The service wants to bill $1,050 for each alarm that they classify as "false, nuisance,  or malicious".  I have yet to find a definition for these.

Last year the department brought in over 5 Million dollars in 2009, they project that the new program will increase revenues to just under $11 Million dollars.  They expect to be so busy they have budgeted for a 95k per year analyst and two 75k per year assistant accountants to deal with all the increased invoicing.

This policy is wrong for many reasons, not the least of which is properties that have a malicious alarm problem or a system that is wonky....may try to stop having every alarm reported, until they confirm it is a fire....this could result of course in increased property damage and loss of life....as every second counts when fighting a fire.  So the problem for owners is just not theirs...they have to worry about their neighbors.

Things to do are to review your fire alarms and causes for the last 3 years.....make sure you have your vendor take action to correct any deficiencies or problems.  If you have problems with malicious alarms, consider how you provide coverage to those areas with cameras and signage.

Don't forget to adjust your budgeting for 2011, so you don't get caught.....the document is here...

http://bit.ly/hIKUT1

Merry Xmas & Happy Holidays....Efficiency in Line ups for Check Out

Here is a fun informative video that gets to the science of holiday line ups. I for one always wonder why it can take so long in some stores for me to hand them money..

Workplace Violence - a man who's wife was fired takes on School Board

This is very graphic video. It does highlight the fact, that planning needs to take place to ensure security is in place, particularly as is applies to firings and layoffs during these tough economic times.

This man's wife was fired.....someone who is on the school board panel was the one who signed the papers.

He was not even aware which case the man was speaking about.

Terminations can become extremely high risk with our current economic conditions.

NFL has a handle on Business Continuity

Minneapolis Metro dome roof collapses, under the weight of snow on the roof. The NFL obviously has planned for the sudden cancellation of a game due to an infrastructure problem.....the game was immediately moved to Detroit to be played tomorrow night.

The NFL is giving away free tickets for the game.

NFL must be keeping a watch on all open venues in different regional sectors, together with a plan to print tickets.....and pay for it all on a league basis to be able to turn this around so quick.

Great planning.

WikiLeaks memo and your business...

A BBC news story on a WikiLeak memo points out the U.S. collecting information on infrastructure it considers vital to its National security interests.

In this global world it is looking at vital services around the world.

Some of the sites listed includes gas pipelines.....termination point of oversea's internet cables, and a variety of other types of facilities.

The question for your business is have you got the same information on what interests are vital to the survival and growth of your business....and are you vulnerable?

My experience has been most companies are not aware of their weak points, so they are essentially defenseless to any interruption. Not being aware of the points....they have no back up plan or risk mitigation plan ready to be put into effect.

If you would like more information on our solutions for Business Continuity and Disaster recovery, contact us today to put it on your radar for 2011

G20 Summit in Toronto June 26&27th Are You Prepared

The G20 Summit will be in Toronto on June the 26, 27, 2010. Expect lot's of action and business interruption. Is your business prepared?

We will be offering a checklist at www.rossmcleansecurity.com later this month.

Check back for more info.

Workplace Violence Prevention Legislation Passes in Ontario

On December 10, 2009, the provincial government passed Bill 168 - The Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace), 2009. Bill 168 amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act to address issues of workplace harassment and violence.

Employers will be required to develop written policies with respect to both workplace violence and workplace harassment and must review those policies at least once per year. Employers must also develop and maintain programs to implement the policies and to deal with incidents and complaints of workplace violence and harassment.

The law comes into effect in June of 2010 and affects ALL COMPANIES with 5 OR MORE EMPLOYEES.