Worker safety being reviewed following violent convenience store robbery in Lumby
The Mac's Convenience Stores franchise and WorkSafe B.C. aren't ignoring a violent incident in Lumby that involved a lone employee being held at knife-point. Both the employer, and WorkSafe B.C. say they will look into the April 24 incident, when a female employee was forcibly confined and threatened with a knife during a robbery at Mac's Convenience Store in Lumby just after 1 a.m. The woman was working alone and police say the ordeal lasted approximately ten minutes. She was not physically injured but was left traumatized, police say.

WorkSafe B.C. spokesperson Scott McCloy says a prevention officer will be visiting the store and investigating what happened. "We're not presuming what the employer did or didn't do, but when we read it through the media, our antenna is up," McCloy says. "This worker was alone and that concerns us. That's why we are sending an officer to determine, 'was this employer in compliance? Do they have a proper compliance program in place? Are they doing an investigation?' If not, we will be insisting they do one."

Employers have three options when it comes to employees working alone or in isolation between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. at late night retail premises, such as gas stations or convenience stores. They can choose to separate the employee from the public with a locked door or barrier that prevents physical contact or they can schedule two or more people for the shift. Several years ago a third option was introduced which involves implementing a violence prevention program.

"It's an onerous requirement," McCloy says of the third option. "There's a lot of hoops to go through to do it right." infotel.ca

Divisional Manager, Asset Protection- Operations Home Depot, Annexe (Ellesmere SSC), Ontario posted today
The Divisional Manager of Asset Protection - Operations will develop, execute and lead processes and procedures that will be executed in the field and Supply Chain to mitigate losses and add value to the store's sales floor. The Divisional Manager will partner with corporate and regional leaders to identify and resolve shrinkage and controllable losses and develop shrink reduction strategies for The Home Depot's product merchandising and Supply Chain. brassring.com

Competition Bureau conducts precious metal jewellery audits at retailers in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal
To ensure that clear and accurate information regarding the quality of precious metal jewellery is keeping with the Precious Metals Marking Act (PMMA), the Competition Bureau has concluded an inspection blitz at major department and chain stores in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The Bureau plans to continue to monitor the marketplace to promote and ensure compliance with the PMMA. Editor's Note: Looking for fraud and ensuring consumers are in fact getting what they pay for.  canadianjeweller.com

JVC Crime Report: Three Minute Break-ins on the rise
There has been a significant increase in the number of three-minute break-and-enters in Canada. canadianjeweller.com

Canada's ORC Leaders
Let's Share your Stories
As part of our ongoing effort to help educate the industry about this problem, we want to recognize the ORC leaders in Canada and publish articles about your executives leading the effort. Also published in the ORC Resource Center this series on North America's ORC Leaders can hopefully add value and help build the collaborative effort with law enforcement throughout both nations.

As educating both the retailers and law enforcement is a critical element in any effort that's designed to build support and funding. So if you are an ORC Leader or want to suggest one please let us know and we'll do the rest. As funding can be a challenge in today's economy. But with the right information and education it can be done.

Let's educate the industry and build the support and funding we need to fight this growing problem.

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