Armed Robbery. Active Armed Offender. Critical Incidents.
There are some incidents that no employer ever wants to experience.
An armed robbery. An active armed offender. A violent confrontation. A serious assault. A medical emergency that suddenly escalates into a critical incident.
These are the events that make headlines. The events that leave organisations, boards and leaders asking:
“How could this happen here?”
The reality is that no organisation expects these incidents to occur. Yet every day, businesses, clubs, hotels, hospitality venues, retail outlets, councils and workplaces operate in environments where risk exists.
The question is not whether we want these events to happen. The answer to that is obvious.
The real question is:
If it happened tomorrow, would our staff and managers have the skills, confidence and capability to manage the incident effectively?
That is what preparedness is really about.
Not fear. Not worst-case thinking.
Preparedness is about ensuring that when the unexpected occurs, people know what to do, who is responsible, how to communicate, and how to protect themselves and others.
Readiness is more than having a policy
Many workplaces have emergency procedures sitting in a folder somewhere.
Some have evacuation diagrams displayed on walls.
Others have policies that employees signed years ago but have never revisited.
While policies are important, a critical incident is not the time for people to be reading a procedure for the first time.
Unfortunately, during an emergency, people do not automatically rise to the occasion. They fall to the level of their training.
When an armed offender enters a workplace, or a violent incident unfolds without warning, employees often experience a range of physiological and psychological responses, including:
• Increased heart rate
• Tunnel vision
• Reduced fine motor skills
• Impaired decision-making
• Fear, anxiety and panic
These are normal human reactions to extreme stress.
Without training and preparation, even highly capable employees can hesitate, freeze or struggle to make effective decisions.
With training, people are far more likely to recognise threats, follow established procedures, communicate effectively and take actions that improve safety outcomes.
The difference between chaos and clarity is often preparation.
What does “being ready” actually mean?
Being ready does not mean turning employees into security experts or tactical responders.
It means equipping them with the knowledge, confidence and practical skills required to respond appropriately when faced with a critical incident.
A prepared workplace focuses on four key areas.
Prevention
Employees know how to identify concerning behaviours, recognise warning signs and report emerging risks before a situation escalates.
Response
Staff understand that different emergencies require different responses.
An armed robbery response may be vastly different from an active armed offender response. Likewise, the decision to evacuate, lock down, isolate or shelter in place will depend on the circumstances.
Prepared employees understand these differences and can make informed decisions under pressure rather than reacting impulsively.
Communication
Managers and supervisors understand how to activate communication plans, coordinate resources, manage ongoing risk exposure and maintain effective communication throughout an incident.
They know how to communicate with employees, emergency services, stakeholders and key decision-makers while ensuring information remains accurate, timely and relevant.
Recovery
Prepared organisations understand that the incident is not over once emergency services leave the scene.
Recovery planning includes:
• Emergency contact procedures
• Incident management and reporting guidelines
• CEO and Board debriefing processes
• Crime scene preservation and management
• Employee Assistance Program support
• HR intervention and welfare checks
• Management of psychosocial impacts
• Strategies for returning employees safely to work
True preparedness considers both the immediate response and the longer-term wellbeing of those affected.
The employer’s duty of care
Under Australian Work Health and Safety legislation, employers have a primary duty of care to provide a workplace that is safe and without risks to health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable.
This responsibility extends far beyond slips, trips and manual handling injuries.
It also includes foreseeable risks such as:
• Workplace violence
• Armed robbery
• Aggressive customers or patrons
• Active armed offender incidents
• Bullying and harassment
• Psychosocial hazards
• Critical emergencies
Employers are expected to identify hazards, assess risks, implement appropriate controls and provide information, instruction, training and supervision relevant to those risks.
Following a serious incident, one question is almost always asked by investigators, regulators, boards and legal representatives:
“What had the organisation done to prepare its people?”
Investigations commonly examine:
• Risk assessments
• Emergency procedures
• Training records
• Scenario exercises
• Communication systems
• Leadership involvement
• Management oversight
For many organisations, the challenge is not creating a policy.
The real challenge is demonstrating that employees understood the policy, practised the procedures and were capable of applying them when it mattered most.
Experience creates confidence
One of the most valuable lessons I have learned throughout my career across both government and corporate sectors is that confidence is built through exposure, repetition and practice.
The people who perform best during critical incidents are not always the most experienced or the most senior.
More often, they are the people who have mentally rehearsed potential scenarios, practised their response options and developed confidence through realistic training.
That is why practical training matters.
Working with clubs, hotels, hospitality venues, councils and workplace teams across Australia, one observation remains consistent:
People remember what they practise.
They rarely remember page 47 of a policy manual.
What they do remember are the scenarios, discussions, exercises and decision-making challenges they experienced during training.
Those experiences build confidence, capability and resilience long before they are ever required.
What effective training looks like
Some organisations still rely heavily on PowerPoint presentations and compliance tick-box exercises.
While education has its place, it is only one component of preparedness.
Effective critical incident training should challenge participants to think, communicate and act in realistic situations.
Scenario-based learning
Participants work through realistic workplace incidents and discuss decision-making processes in real time.
Examples may include:
• Armed robbery at reception
• Suspicious persons entering the premises
• Aggressive customer behaviour escalating towards violence
• Active armed offender situations
• Threats directed towards staff or management
Tabletop exercises
Managers and leadership teams work through unfolding scenarios, discussing priorities, responsibilities, communication pathways and strategic decision-making.
These exercises often uncover vulnerabilities and procedural gaps before a real incident exposes them.
Emergency drills
Practical drills provide employees with an opportunity to apply procedures in a realistic environment and understand:
• Where to go
• What to do
• Who is responsible for key actions
• How procedures actually operate under pressure
Decision-making under pressure
Participants learn how stress affects performance and develop practical strategies to maintain focus, communicate effectively and make sound decisions during uncertainty.
Lessons from real incidents
Over the years, I have delivered critical incident and confrontation management training to thousands of employees and managers operating in high-risk environments.
One of the most common comments following practical exercises is:
“I never realised how difficult simple decisions become when pressure is applied.”
During scenario-based training, participants are often surprised by:
• How quickly incidents can escalate
• How little information is available in the early stages
• How difficult communication becomes under stress
• How easily assumptions can influence decisions
• The importance of control and containment strategies in reducing risk exposure
This is precisely why realistic training is so valuable.
It allows employees and managers to experience pressure, test assumptions and learn from mistakes in a controlled environment rather than during an actual emergency.
The objective is not perfection.
The objective is preparation.
Building a culture of readiness
Critical incident preparedness is not a one-off training session.
It is not an annual compliance requirement.
It is an organisational mindset.
Organisations that respond effectively during emergencies typically demonstrate:
• Strong leadership
• Clear expectations
• Consistent standards
• Effective communication
• Regular training
• Ongoing scenario exercises
• Continuous review and improvement
In these organisations, preparedness becomes part of everyday operations rather than something discussed only after an incident occurs.
Readiness is embedded into leadership, accountability and operational decision-making.
The question every employer should ask
Most organisations invest considerable time planning for growth, customer service and operational performance.
Far fewer invest the same level of effort preparing for the event they hope never happens.
Yet when a critical incident occurs, preparation often becomes the difference between confusion and coordinated action.
As leaders, managers and employers, perhaps the question is not:
“Could it happen here?”
But rather:
“If it happened here tomorrow, how confident are we that our people would know what to do?”
Because armed robberies, active armed offender incidents and critical emergencies are events we never want to see occur in our workplaces.
However, duty of care requires us to acknowledge that they can occur and to take reasonable steps to prepare for them.
When it comes to protecting people, preparedness should never be viewed as an optional extra.
It is a leadership responsibility. It is a duty of care obligation. And it may be one of the most important investments an organisation makes in the safety, wellbeing and resilience of its people.