Safety concerns are at the forefront of our daily lives. In our local communities as well as overseas, exploring and finding concrete solutions to keep our schools, businesses, and places of worship safe is a key priority that each of us has a stake in. Valuable travel/personal safety tips are a game changer.

Clearpath EPM has a team of highly skilled personnel with extensive law enforcement, military, and emergency planning management experience, who continue to work with local and international communities to make their students, faculty, and communities as safe as possible.

The challenges facing these institutions are enormous and they require proactive approaches and collaboration among stakeholders.

Clearpath EPM is gearing up for a major community event that will shed light on the pressing need for enhanced safety measures and offer invaluable insights into innovative strategies to address these challenges.

Clearpath EPM, a leading provider of safety solutions, is organizing a Comprehensive School, Business, and Church Safety Workshop on Thursday, May 16, in Oakland Park, Florida, that will bring together experts, stakeholders, and community members to explore innovative approaches to safety. This cutting-edge event is offered in person and on Zoom.

Eventbrite is promoting this unique event as a place to share best practices, encourage cooperation, and give communities the tools that they need to make their own environments safer. The interactive six-hour safety training session is being held for School, Business, and House of Worship leaders and staff, volunteers, and safety/security personnel.

The workshop will acknowledge the diverse safety concerns faced by schools, businesses, and churches. From the threat of violence to natural disasters and public health emergencies, these institutions will learn how they must navigate a complex landscape of risks. According to Clearpath EPM’s website, understanding the unique challenges of each setting is essential for devising effective safety solutions.

For instance, schools require strategies to address issues such as bullying, active shooter incidents, and emergency preparedness. Businesses face security risks related to theft, cyberattacks, and workplace accidents. Similarly, churches and other houses of worship must contend with the safety of congregants, vulnerability to attacks, and emergency response protocols.

Clearpath EPM’s Todd Lawrence

Read on about how Clearpath EPM’s Senior Consultant Todd Lawrence uses his international school safety and security expertise to work with communities in the U.S. and abroad.

In highlighting Clearpath EPM as a major leader in security and safety for international schools, would you say that the threats overseas can be worse than those in the United States?

Todd Lawrence: No, I would not say that. Of course, many variables affect that answer. But generally, I feel safer outside the United States. I have some extensive experience in different regions of the world, so I do not make that claim lightly.

The international school community is a very close-knit one. There tends to be a “bubble” created around that community. This fosters a sense of safety and security that the Expat (expatriate) can take advantage of.

There are regions of the world that are more hazardous than others with a wide range of threats such as political instability which you would not need to worry about here in the United States. However, on an average day, I would feel more susceptible to “normal” crimes such as theft, random acts of violence, and road rage in the United States than in other regions of the world.

Safety Issues — Domestic Versus International

How are the international threats different from the domestic threats and safety issues?

The day-to-day threats are generally the same. There are your medical emergencies, hazardous material spills, traffic accidents, “routine” crimes, and peer-to-peer violence. The international threats take the form of potential injury due to lax workplace safety rules, unfavorable interactions with local police due to unfamiliarity with local laws, political instability, and anti-western sentiment.

Do you feel that your experience makes you more aware of threats and danger? And does that make you feel safer or less safe?

I am more aware of threats and dangers because of my training and experience. I do understand that there is a fine line between being aware and paranoid. My awareness does not prevent me from going out and enjoying life, I just know how to understand the threats that could be present and be prepared to react as needed.

I have been giving personal safety and awareness training to members of the organizations that I have worked with for the last 20 years. It is a well-known fact that those who are not aware of their surroundings are more susceptible to attack. I am not saying that you must be on pins and needles the whole time but having your head buried in your phone makes you a softer target. And as noted in the tips at the beginning of the article, you have to have an idea where you should or shouldn’t be.

A great example is Moscow. Moscow is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and I routinely walked around the city late at night. However, I talked with the locals and clearly knew what areas to avoid.

Being Aware of the Risks and Staying Safe

Sometimes you need to know that there are risks. How can your mindset, experience, and the work you do for Clearpath, keep us safe?

This ties in with the last question. I use my training and experience to teach others how to be aware of the multitude of hazards not only in your hometown but also when you travel.

There are so many dangers facing us on a daily basis. It is up to the individual to understand these and learn how to mitigate these. I had been asked to give personal safety and awareness talks to high school students preparing for university. Again, the most basic thing to do is research where you are going.

Know the risks in that area. Know that there are predators waiting to do you harm. There are predators using dating or social apps to find victims. One of the questions I ask of those I am talking to is, if you do this activity or go to this area, what is the worst thing that could happen? If you are not comfortable with your answer, then change your plans.

What other experience has helped you gain even more expertise?

I started my overseas work in Iraq by training Iraqi Police. I gained extensive experience in training methods, physical security, personal protection, and crisis management. I then went to Kuwait to work on a contract that supported the US military with linguists. This honed my expertise in contract management and personnel administration.

My next position was a Health Safety Security and Environment Coordinator for an institution of higher education in Doha, Qatar. There I improved my skills in emergency response, guard force development, hazardous materials, and risk management. This prepared me for the position of Director of Safety and Security for a K-12 international school in Moscow, Russia. I continued improving myself in the areas of guard force management, health office management, enterprise risk management, and emergency planning.

It was while in Moscow that I met [Clearpath EPM Founder and CEO] Mike Johnson during a workshop on security operations at international schools. I also started doing presentations on incident management for leadership teams at other schools in Eastern Europe.

Clearpath EPM Co-Founder and CEO Mike Johnson

With your military training, your law enforcement training, and your security safety training, what do you believe makes Clearpath EPM unique?Are there other companies that do what Clearpath does?

Clearpath EPM is unique because of the team of professionals that Mike brought together. Plus, Mike has a passion for preventing incidents by being prepared. In law enforcement, I made a career out of responding to incidents that people did not expect to happen to them.

Now I want to help people mitigate those risks that can cause harm. This is what drew me to work with Mike, that desire to get as many people in the prevention mindset as possible. Of course, Mike has put together a team that has the experience to train on how to properly respond to an incident.

There are a lot of companies out there that focus on the response. They mostly focus on the “active shooter”. While there is no doubt that this is a valid concern and how to properly respond to such an event is critical, there is so much more to keeping a community safe and secure.

Cutting-Edge Emergency Planning Management

How else do you see Mike Johnson and Clearpath EPM as cutting-edge in emergency planning management and other massive security efforts?

Mike and Clearpath EPM are always thinking about the newest and most effective methods to implement the emergency planning process. Mike has developed a very extensive knowledge base and a thorough risk assessment template.

The team that Mike has put together has the training and experience to provide a holistic assessment and overview of an organization. This includes physical security operations, guard force operations, workplace safety, hazardous material control and response, and emergency planning and response, to name a few.

I think one of the most overlooked aspects of incident response is business continuity. This is a vital part of the response and recovery phases of emergency management.

Please tell me more about this when it comes to businesses.

The importance of having a business continuity plan can’t be overstated. This is a plan for how your organization will get back on track after an incident. There must be a plan for how to continue operations during and after an incident that interrupts your business. For example, if you lose half of your building to a fire, do you have a plan to relocate during the rebuilding process? Or do you have a plan to recover critical systems after a server or IT failure?

One of the things that Mike wanted us to talk about is travel risk management, particularly for international schools.

This is one of the things I bring to the table for Mike. In the international school community, there is little attention paid to this part of an organization. One of the benefits of working or studying abroad is the opportunity and ability to travel. While most organizations do have a travel program, it is mostly focused on the procedure and logistics parts of the travel.

This includes visa, parent’s permission, hotel booking, and transportation to name a few. Not many organizations include a security component in their travel program. The security component includes such considerations as hotel safety, tour guide safety compliance, child protection concerns, and location risk assessments.

I think this area has some of the greatest risks to organizations, especially schools. The day-to-day risks are compounded when you take a group of students on trips, both inside the host country as well as internationally.

To Attend the May 16 Clearpath EPM Event: Eventbrite

7 Top Tips from Clearpath EPM for Travel/Personal Safety

· Know where you are going. Research the destination, including the country, city, and hotel. There are many resources.

· Get travel insurance.

· Don’t be “flashy” with your valuables. Be mindful of what you wear such as jewelry, expensive purses, bags, cameras, etc.

· Be aware of your surroundings Assume that you are being watched when you arrive at vacation destinations.

· Have a plan to respond to incidents. Predetermine a meet-up place if separated from your family or group.

· Let someone you trust know your plans. Include places and times of return.

· Have backup copies of your travel documents. Not just on your phone (this is usually lost along with your documents).

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