Whether it’s a business, government building, school, hospital, stadium, or house of worship, every facility must be concerned about what feels like an ever-increasing threat of gun violence. It could come in the form of a criminal trying to rob a retail store, gas station convenience store, or other business, or it might come in the form of a mass shooting incident spurred by hate and racism. Regardless of the source, this article will cover the top 5 reasons to use bulletproof glass in buildings of all types across all industries and sectors.
Reason #1: The Rising Threat of Gun Violence
Perhaps the most important and pressing reason of all to use bulletproof glass is the recent alarming rise of gun violence incidents and shootings. According to a recently published CDC study (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) as reported by CNN, “Between March 2020 and February 2021, there were about 62,500 firearm-related incidents in the US — 15% higher than expected based on previous trends…” While 2021 data is not yet available, experts believe it will prove to have been even worse than 2020. Now we have the first half of 2022 continuing the trend.
What’s making the headlines this year? One mass shooting after another was spurred by hate, racism, extremism, and mental health challenges. Recent incidents include a supermarket in Buffalo, New York (10 killed, 3 injured by a white supremacist), an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas (22 killed, 18 wounded by a teenager suffering from mental health challenges), and a church as in Laguna Woods, California (1 killed, 5 injured by a man motivated by political hatred of Taiwan and Taiwanese people). These shocking, tragic incidents and trends are driving more organizations and businesses to get serious about protecting themselves and their employees. Perhaps the most shocking gun violence incidents of all are school shootings. Creative Industries has been actively applying its expertise in solutions to protect our nation’s children in the educational setting. Learn more in the following articles:
- Bulletproof Furniture for Schools
- School Security Windows: Innovative Solutions for Greater Safety
- How the Nation could be Bulletproofing Schools in 2020
- Bullet Resistant Tables for Schools: Classrooms, Cafeteria, Boardrooms
- Are Bulletproof Doors the Future of School Security?
Reason #2: Protecting People
One of the top reasons for using bulletproof glass is to provide people with protection from being injured or killed by a bullet. It could be an employee staffing a ticket sales window at a stadium, a bank teller, children and teachers in a school, public servants in government buildings, medical professionals and patients in healthcare facilities, the cashier at a gas station convenience store, and so on. Whether made from acrylic or polycarbonate layered between sheets of glass, a transparent bullet-resistant barrier can save lives while still allowing staff and employees to interact and conduct transactions with customers, clients, and the public at large. Learn more about bulletproof glass basics on the following pages:
- The Science Behind Bulletproof Glass.
- How is Bullet Resistant Glass Made?
- The Different Types of Bullet Resistant Glass Windows.
- Understanding Penetration Levels by Bullet Caliber.
- What’s the Difference Between Bulletproof and Bullet-Resistant Glass?
- Ballistic Glass and Tempered Glass are Different: Here’s How.
Reason #3: Protecting Operations and Assets
Another reason for both organizations and businesses to use bulletproof glass is to provide greater safety and security in protecting operations and assets. For retail store operations, the highest threat of gun violence is armed robbers looking to steal cash and/or merchandise. In other settings such as government agencies, it’s about protecting the vital services people rely on local, state, and federal government for in their day-to-day lives. In all these settings, the bulletproof glass barriers in use must provide protection while still facilitating interactions and transactions between employees and clients or customers. Learn more about some of the standard bulletproof products Creative Industries is known for on the following pages:
- Bulletproof Glass Windows: A robust selection of bullet-resistant window products to provide increased security and protection for your business and your employees.
- Deal Trays: Deal tray products protect staff when customer interactions include passing items back and forth to complete transactions.
- Talk Thrus: Clear communication with customers is essential and talk thrus facilitate speaking with customers while offering protection at the same time.
- Drawers: These are the well-known extendable drawer used to conduct transactions at drive-up windows.
- Pass Thrus: Larger than most drawers, these products are made to handle passing larger items back and forth when needed.
Reason #4: Boosting Morale and Productivity
There’s been a trend in businesses in recent years to achieve a healthier workforce through better health insurance coverage and benefits such as robust wellness programs. Why? The answer is simple: Healthier employees take less time off because of illness, poor health, and chronic health conditions. They’re also more productive when they’re at work and when they’re healthier. Among the many things highlighted by the pandemic was the need for employers to pay more attention to the mental health of their employees, which has all the same impacts as poor physical health when it comes to engagement and productivity.
Employees who come to work or don’t come to work fearing for their safety because of the rise in gun violence aren’t in the right frame of mind to give your organization or company the peak performance you need from them. Anxiety and stress over safety are counterproductive. If, however, you install various bulletproof products to increase the safety and security of staff and employees, it will go a long way toward easing their fears and anxieties. These improvements to the mental health and well-being of workers translate into fewer absences and higher productivity.
Reason #5: Increasing Loyalty and Retention
Another important reason for organizations and businesses to use bulletproof glass relates to another aspect of employee engagement in the form of better retention (meaning less turnover) and enhanced loyalty to you as their employer. This is a reason often overlooked, but whose impact shouldn’t be underestimated. When employees see how their employer is willing to make a substantial investment in their safety, security, and wellbeing, it will not go unnoticed. In fact, those workers will be more loyal and less likely to quit. These various benefits related to less absenteeism, greater productivity, better morale, improved retention, and stronger loyalty all have a real and positive impact on the bottom line. It’s the right thing to do for your people and your company.
Creative Industries: A Safety and Security Partner You Can Count on
At Creative Industries, we’ve been applying our deep expertise in bulletproof solutions for organizations and businesses to meet their safety and security needs since the 1970s. We put our experience to work for each customer by first taking the time to understand your business or facility and it’s needs before guiding you through which quality bulletproof glass barriers and related products we make to collaboratively create an effective solution. We also know every business, agency, and organization has a budget, which is why we are committed to keeping the cost of our solutions as reasonable as possible.
We offer a wide range of standard products that serve most needs, but we can also custom-build anything required. Feel free to explore examples of our work on the portfolio page of our website, look at how we address safety and security in particular industries, and see how provide solutions tailored to specific types of buildings and facilities in our architect’s corner, including hospitals, schools, stadiums, convenience stores, hotels/motels, and government buildings. If you’re ready to achieve a whole new level of safety and security, along with the peace of mind it brings, Creative Industries is ready to help! Reach out to us to start the conversation through the contact page of our website or by calling us directly using our toll-free number: 800-776-2068.