Protecting your Employees with CCTV

William Hill PLC corporate responsibility report Protecting our employees We take the safety and security of our staff very seriously, particularly in our shops, and are committed to protecting the welfare of our staff as far as possible by taking proactive measures. Through our Security Department, we undertake regular risks assessments of all our shops, considering their vulnerability to potential robberies and violence in the workplace. We have a zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour in our shops and have sought and been granted Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and worked closely with the police to prosecute cases. In our shops, we have significant crime prevention measures that we use to minimise the risk, including the fitting of security screens, installation of digital closed circuit television (CCTV) systems and fitting electronic and magnetic door locks. In January 2010, we completed the installation of digital CCTV in all our shops, which gives us high-quality images and a remote access system that enables us to deliver footage to the police much more quickly. Employees also have access to a security support line, which they can use whenever they have concerns or questions about their safety. In the event of an incident occurring, affected shops are reassessed by the Security Department and steps are taken to address risks. In 2007, we introduced Counter Plan a bespoke training initiative developed in-house and designed to provide staff with the tools needed to deal effectively with events that may happen prior to, during and after a robbery. The aim of Counter Plan is to create a culture where staff are in control of their environment. The training places a high priority on cash management to minimise the likelihood of shops being targeted. All new starters are trained in Counter Plan off-site for two days and the training is revisited within three months of them joining the Group. In addition, our Security team regularly use our in-shop video systems to provide updates to existing shop staff. Over the last 18 months, 8,500 shop staff have attended training sessions, some 70% of the front-line Retail employees. By taking decisive action, the potential danger to staff is greatly reduced, cash loss is minimised and our ability to assist police investigations is enhanced. Having introduced Counter Plan, we are now part of the Safe Bet Alliance which has established a minimum set of standards for the betting industry to use to prevent robberies. This is being applied within the Metropolitan Police area and is being used by Environmental Health Officers to assess staff safety. We are now working through the Association of British Bookmakers to introduce this as a national set of standards. We liaise closely with a number of local authority environmental health departments, local authority licensing officers and police crime prevention officers. We are also a member of the Crimestoppers scheme which, in conjunction with the Association of British Bookmakers reward scheme, enables us to encourage the public to provide information on offences committed against our staff and property. In 2007, we introduced Counter Plan a bespoke training initiative developed in-house and designed to provide staff with the tools needed to deal effectively with events that may happen prior to, during and after a robbery. The aim of Counter Plan is to create a culture where staff are in control of their environment. The training places a high priority on cash management to minimise the likelihood of shops being targeted. All new starters are trained in Counter Plan off-site for two days and the training is revisited within three months of them joining the Group. In addition, our Security team regularly use our in-shop video systems to provide updates to existing shop staff. Over the last 18 months, 8,500 shop staff have attended training sessions, some 70% of the front-line Retail employees. By taking decisive action, the potential danger to staff is greatly reduced, cash loss is minimised and our ability to assist police investigations is enhanced. In our shops, we have significant crime prevention measures that we use to minimise the risk, including the fitting of security screens, installation of digital closed circuit television systems and fitting electronic and magnetic door locks. Counter Plan Initiative William Hill was nominated as a finalist at the Security Excellence Awards held in October 2009 for our Counter Plan training initiative. Counter Plan helps to protect staff and has led to us having the lowest levels of cash loss ever.