Businesses augment security to protect their delivery drivers

By Joyette Mills-Ward
Business Reporter SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH the advent of bold armed robberies and daring criminals, some businesses are taking precautionary measures to ensure the safety of their staff, especially those who manage money.

SKNVibes.com spoke with a local businessman, owner of several bakeries who said that he had devised a security plan that would preserve the lives of his employees.

“The delivery drivers are the most susceptible so since we can’t give them guns to protect themselves, we have contracted a security service provider to address the issue of staff and property security. Things happen when they are on the road so we have to find a way for them to alert Head Office if they encounter trouble while they are out,” he said.

One representative of a wholesale and retail distribution company expressed these sentiments, “Our basic concern is for the safety of our employees, and we will do as much to ensure their safety while on the job. That is of paramount importance; to make sure their security is our number one priority especially for our Delivery and Sales personnel.”    ~~Adz:Right~~

The St. Kitts Bottling Company was the most recent victim of this sort of crime when one of their delivery trucks was held up by masked gunmen demanding money. An official with the company revealed that they “were anticipating a presentation to be made by our bankers offering a method of discouraging robberies of our delivery trucks” and that the company will be “reviewing our operating procedures to ensure the continued safety of the drivers and staff aboard the delivery vehicles”.

Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, some persons were reluctant to reveal any aspects of their security and safety plans, saying only that they were currently seeing how best they could protect their workers while staying within the confines of the law.