Proper safety and security measures are critical for any attraction. While an attraction’s security team is trained to respond in emergencies, what about the rest of the front-line staff?
Does the admissions team know what to do if someone gets hurt entering the turnstiles? Similarly, do those working inside a food and beverage location know what to do if a fight between guests breaks out in the dining space?
“What I find so many times when I’ve done audits on parks is they’ve got all these great programs, but they just don’t train far enough down,” explains Pat Hoffman, president of amusement operations and safety consulting firm The Hoffman Consulting Group. “It should be everybody in that facility—from the person that sweeps the grounds to the CEO or the president of the park—[who] knows exactly what to do, how to respond, how to react if something does happen.”
Funworld collected tips and suggestions from attractions industry experts on how to ensure all staff members know safety protocols—and understand their vital importance.
Safety Starts with Training
Safety and security training is typically part of the onboarding process for new employees. At the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California, new employees receive three to four hours of safety and security orientation from Security Supervisor Darren Ali.
“We go over the safety procedures that they may come across, how to report incidents or emergencies that take place at the museum that involve not just the artwork, but other things they may come across, such as injuries and illness, infrastructure damage, damage to the artwork,” Ali details. “This also extends out into our parking lots and a park across the street from the museum, known as Crocker Park. Sometimes people come here, they may slip on the sidewalk or have something happen to their car, and all of that gets reported here.”
Safe from the Start: Creating a training checklist for each new hire to complete should include safety and security procedures.
Hoffman advises attractions not only provide every new employee a written handout that includes safety and security protocols, but also provide adequate training and access to a manager who can address questions.
He also suggests employers should remain open to feedback on improving their protocols. “A lot of times, new people come to our facilities with some great ideas, and they’ll tell somebody, but nobody does anything about it,” he explains. “There should be a formal way for new employees to say, ‘Hey, I used to work at this place, and this is what we did over here.’ Those kinds of things can really pay off in spades and new ideas can be put out there to other employees—it helps everybody.”
Hoffman advises operators to keep staff informed of all security measures every day in case there’s a different situation frontline staff members need to be aware of, such as concerts, special events, or a projection for heavy attendance. He also suggests that all employees should be taught how to identify and address impediments to safety and security equipment throughout the property.
“A lot of times you’ll go someplace and … there’s a fire extinguisher and somebody’s covered it up with a jacket or something—those things shouldn’t happen,” he details. “Or making sure that outdoors, there’s signage that directs people through the right safety procedures or security signs that are up that are not being blocked by the foliage that’s grown up around them. Just the simple things can make a big difference sometimes.”
Don’t Stop with Onboarding
Safety training is also an important part of employee onboarding at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. However, President and CEO Tom Schmid says training does not end there. Operations supervisors constantly test employees.
Be Open to Feedback: Younger employees are connected to their phones. Consider a dedicated text number they can use to easily type suggestions to strengthen the operation.
“Part of their role that day is actually to do spot-checking with random employees to see if they are familiar with and they understand our various emergency response systems,” he explains. “Just asking them if they could share a little bit about recent training they’ve undergone or what would they do in this situation. For example, a lost child comes up and it’s crying—what are the steps that you would take at that point, just to make sure that they understand? And if we see that there are holes in our training, that we can address them.”
Schmid says if employees answer correctly, they recieve Zoo Bucks they may redeem around the zoo. “There’s some positive reinforcement with that,” he adds.
At the Crocker Art Museum, Ali provides special workshops and tests to keep employees consistently learning about security proceedures. “Just last week, we had a workshop with our docent staff with the Sacramento City Police Department SWAT team on the active shooter protocols,” he says. “[And] we have quarterly fire alarm drills to instill into the staff the confidence that they need to make sure that they evacuate when the need arises.”
Spotlight Positive Behavior: Creating a rewards system to honor proactive employees can encourage other frontline staff to also make sound judgment calls.
Reinforcing Employees’ Responsibilities
While employees may read and understand an attraction’s safety and security guidelines, how can facilities ensure their seasonal staff really grasp the important role they play in guaranteeing everyone—including all employees and guests—stay safe?
“It’s just that ongoing messaging, both from the zoo leadership, as well as our safety and security leaders, to really make sure that folks are just paying attention, they’re looking around, and then they’re reporting if anything is out of the ordinary,” Schmid adds.
Ali says it also comes down to open discussions with everyone who works in the facility. Operators should not to assume people have experience in these matters, because typically, they do not.
Plan Refresher Training Sessions: Making time to review safety and security procedures will assist frontline staff in remembering best practices.
“Make sure you constantly train, because not everyone understands everything and there’s constant daily things that everyone needs to know,” he continues. “Those frontline people need to know more than anyone. And while it’s security’s role, it is also a shared responsibility with everyone that works in the facility.”
