From Eveningsnews.com
Don't Take Chances in the Dark
By
Nov 26, 2007, 23:14
(NewsUSA) - With the switch back to standard time and the shorter winter days, more and more employees are heading out to dark parking lots after a long workday. As a result, office building owners are faced with a daunting task -; keeping their buildings safe and secure.
Today's offenders have become more sophisticated, so it is crucial to consider different emergency scenarios and implement effective procedures in order to ensure employees remain safe.
However, many experts are still finding gaps in guidelines and procedures with traditional safety measures, especially when it comes to communicating with building occupants and emergency responders.
Since lines of communication can be lost during an emergency, building managers are increasingly adopting an innovative alert system called the Immediate Response Information System (IRIS).
Developed by TechRadium, IRIS is a state-of-the-art, high-speed response system that sends emergency messages to thousands of people at a time. It transmits messages to building managers, occupants and emergency responders, and, within seconds, the system sends the alert through a variety of frequently used electronic devices such as home and cell phones, e-mail accounts, pagers, fax machines and PDAs.
In addition to office building technology, employees can take steps to protect themselves, too:
* Try to walk to and from your car with someone else, especially if it is dark out.
* Stay focused and alert for anything out of the ordinary by refraining from talking on your cell phone or listening to music until you are safely in your car or at your destination.
* Have your keys out and your hands free. This way you will save time once you get to your car.
* Be mindful of where you park in the morning or earlier in the day, and consider whether it will be a safe location to walk to in the dark.
* Try to stay in areas near lights and pedestrian traffic.
* Program emergency response phone numbers into your cell phone in case of an emergency.
* Ask about emergency response systems such as IRIS that are used by your place of employment.
For more information about IRIS, visit www.useiris.com or call 866-370-0120.
© Copyright by EveningsNews.com