6 C-Store Leadership and Risk-Management Ideas
By Alaina Lancaster on May 30, 2017AUSTIN, Texas -- At CSP’s Leadership & Crisis Prevention Forum in Austin, Texas, many of the attendees’ questions were answered with “cameras, cameras and more cameras.” Zoom in on some of the risk management trends and solutions that emerged from the meeting.
1. Press play
For gasoline distributors, the costs of in-fleet camera and telematics systems are coming down, and they are worth the investment, said Stewart Van Duzer, first vice president of Federated Insurance. Van Duzer recommended prioritizing angles over pixels if price is a concern. Cameras helped change employee behavior for Maverick Inc., a North Salt Lake City-based retailer. “The cameras changed safety culture with drivers dramatically,” said Travis Goff, risk and safety supervisor for the 300-unit chain.
Douglass Distributing, a retailer and fuel distributor based in Sherman, Texas, couples its in-truck cameras with an incentive program for drivers. Each quarter, drivers can earn $1,500 for safe driving. Conversely, drivers are docked $50 the first instance they are caught messing with their phones while on the road, and $150 the second time. Since rolling out the program, the company sees maybe one cell-phone violation among its 60-person trucking crew each month, said Beth Kratochvil, Douglass Distributing’s vice president of safety.
2. Healthcare and legislation
Workers' compensation claim frequency in the U.S. is down overall, said Van Duzer, however, the claim severity is climbing. The rising costs of pharmaceuticals are driving up the claims, he said. But operators should be ready to adjust to a new status quo. Despite media skepticism, some Beltway insiders say that a healthcare replacement bill will be enacted before the end of the year. “If I were to recommend anything, I’d say figure out health savings accounts,” he said.
3. The dark side of the web
Convenience retailers need to keep the Americans with Disabilities Act top-of-mind when it comes to their websites, said Ryan Sullivan, corporate counsel for pen and lighter manufacturer BIC. “Violations are up around electronic visualization,” Sullivan said, referring to websites and other electronic mediums, including apps. Canada has been more aggressive with ADA requirements on electronic platforms, he said.
Companies are also seeing an increasing number of employment claims around online sexual harassment, said John Browning, partner at Texas-based law firm Passman & Jones. Browning suggested creating a specific and consistent policy around social media and discrimination. “Be upfront about the fact that you care about what people are saying,” he said.
Data breaches are also rising—up 40% from 2015 to 2016, Browning said. “Focus on employee education,” he said. “Tell them this exists and here’s the part you play.” Some of the attendees test employees’ understanding of their cybersecurity policies with purposefully suspicious emails.
4. Body language
Maverick teaches its convenience-store employees about personal space and supportive body language as a conflict avoidance strategy. Goff and some of his team members received security guard certifications, which helped inform their safety policies. The company tells staff to keep a 4-foot zone between themselves and other individuals and not to block exits to prevent triggering fight-or-flight instincts. Managers also instruct workers to communicate with their hands, palms-up. Not only is it a good way to distract people who pose a safety risk, but it also allows employees to react quickly, Goff said.
5. Safe hiring
About 150 cities and 26 states have adopted legislation prohibiting employers from asking about criminal backgrounds in hiring applications, said Karen Mitchener, director of human resources for Ricker Oil Co., Anderson, Ind. “But we have invited guests, and we need to protect against negligent hiring and workplace violence,” Mitchener said. The 52-store retailer conducts background checks and does not hire applicants who have been convicted of battery or assault, she said.
6. Food-safety risks
Food-safety experts are struggling to define high risk items these days, said Daniel Coto, vice president of EHA Consulting Group Inc., an environmental and public health consulting firm based in Lake Worth, Fla. For instance, a gas station recently made headlines for botulism-contaminated nacho cheese that had hospitalized nine people and killed one person in northern California. Diet trends, globalization of the food supply and evolving microbes are creating an ever-changing food-safety climate, and operators have to be prepared, Coto said.