The mail provides the easiest entry into a building and the cheapest, safest, most anonymous means of attack. It's not just bombs, booby traps and bio-terrors. It's also threatening letters, suspicious powders and all manner of unsolicited items. Regardless of whether attacks are real or hoaxes, they can be expensive. The ability of the mail center personnel to prevent dangerous postal hazards from causing damage or to avoid unnecessary evacuations for hoaxes can significantly affect the safety, morale, productivity and profitability of the rest of the company. In other words, the training and resources made available to the mail center staff can directly protect a company's bottom line.
The prudent approach is not to deaden our senses it is to become more sensitive. We must be alert to all types of threats but develop the skills to rapidly discern between the harmful and the harmless. It is the best way to navigate our way through the nasty brew of toxins, powders, real and fake bombs, injurious booby traps, deliberate hoaxes, pranks and perceived threats that are all currently at work on a population living with exposed nerves and nightly newscasts that explain in detail why they should be afraid.
What's the effect on the mail center? Perceived threats can be just as disruptive as real threats. The mail center has to deal with both, equally as well. Evacuation for a hoax costs money. Not evacuating when evacuation would be prudent can be even more costly. The mail center must be able to provide the appropriate, measured response to all threats, real or perceived, familiar and unfamiliar. It must stay one step ahead of the bad guys and two steps ahead of the pranksters.
Impossible? No, but it is certainly challenging. It won't happen without a plan, appropriate resources as well as constant attention, evaluation and re-evaluation. Here are the necessary components.
Awareness: How can you anticipate a threat or a hoax if you don't know that it exists? Stay current with events that affect the mail center. News travels fast. What happens in a mail center several thousand miles away will be imitated or duplicated in your area. Make it a part of your job to know what's happening out there. Gather news and share it with your co-workers. Monitor the activities of mail terrorists. Cultivate your sources. You have the Internet use it.
Alertness: You must create and maintain a culture of security within the mail center. You don't need to be tense, but you do need to be alert. Put up security posters and keep them dusted and current. You know those news articles that you found? Circulate them to all mail center staff and put them up on the bulletin board. Every week, take down the old articles and replace them with current news. Don't allow them to become dusty or dog-eared. Hold a short "security" meeting with all mail center staff every week. Discuss trends. Report on developments. Get feedback on concerns as well as how to do things better, faster, safer, easier. Get everyone on board and make sure everyone is on the same page and not afraid or embarrassed to voice concerns.
Preparation: The time to develop emergency procedures is not during an emergency. You must have a written plan of procedures and responsibilities that explains how mail is to be processed and screened and what steps should be taken if an item is determined to be suspicious. The plan must clearly spell out who is to be contacted and by whom and how and what is to be done with the suspect item while awaiting action. There should be no opportunity or need for any staff member to rely upon guesswork or assumptions to determine the course of action. The plan must be coordinated with emergency responders and communicated to all mail center staff. Once the plan is developed, it cannot sit on a shelf; it must be implemented and also constantly reviewed and revised as circumstances change. Changes may be required if staff or the mail load increases or decreases, if equipment is purchased or retired, if the nature or level of threat changes, if the emergency responders change procedures or contact protocol. The plan must also change if, during the regular meetings, the staff reports that the procedures do not work as planned.
Protection: Taking precautions against threats and providing fundamental protective equipment is just plain common sense. There should be protective gloves and masks in the event that powder is discovered. Your operation may warrant a safe room or negative pressure work booth to isolate any suspect powders or pathogens from circulating through the mail center. You might designate and prepare an area with operable windows (to vent an explosion) as a holding room for suspect items.
Advantage: Investing in technology to assist in the mail screening and inspection process usually makes sense. It is important to remember, though, that while technology and equipment costs money, you don't necessarily have to spend more to get more. Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better.
Competence: Training is more important than equipment. The instincts and judgment of a properly trained and alert staff member can go a long way towards keeping a company's people and profits safe. While training can be your best investment, it doesn't need to be expensive or disrupting. All staff requires training and all training needs to be refreshed and updated regularly. Remember, we are encouraging a culture of security within the mail center, and it thrives on education, communication and practical application.
Training shouldn't be a special event, it should be ongoing. Explore all sources of training materials and courses. Look at self-paced training available on CD or video. Establish a media library. Acquire reference materials and training aids. Have all staff members rotate into the media center for an hour at a time when new materials arrive. Don't accept the materials at face value; encourage staff to express opinions regarding the relevance to your operation. When seminars are available, rotate the staff through them and then hold a follow-through group meeting to present the information and materials to all of those who didn't attend. If you've purchased equipment, invite the vendor in to refresh the staff on its operation and application. Share the knowledge and make security a challenge and an opportunity rather than just one more work obligation. Keep it lively. Develop a staff of authorities. Use training opportunities, educational reference materials and regular discussion to provide the opportunity to staff members to accept the challenge of keeping your mail center one step ahead of the bad guys.
