Property Management Safety

Unfortunately, this world can be a dangerous place.  Threatening situations can happen in and out of the office.

• Are your property management personnel able to detect potential threats?
• Do they take appropriate precautions when they show or inspect rental properties?
• Do you provide your personnel with training and written guidelines to ensure their safety?

You might think your property management company personnel should have the “common sense” to prevent or avoid dangerous situations or believe they already know how to look out for themselves. But, that’s now always the case; your personnel may be naive, careless, or just preoccupied (particularly when they are busy!).

We all tend to think we’re immune to the dangerous situations we hear about on the news. But that’s also not true. You and your property management personnel need to be informed and prepared with ways to protect yourselves.

Here are a few safety oriented suggestions for property management companies:

1. Put together a list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to office safety and showing property.
2. Create an alert system between personnel in the office and for those out of the office to warn them of problems or to track them in a “what-if” scenario.
3. Set up an emergency/disaster plan for the office.
4. Meet with personnel to review all the material, asking for their input. They may have more ideas to share with everyone.
5. Require personnel to report problems and to share concerns with others.
6. Investigate self-defense training and invite an expert to the office to give tips on how everyone can protect himself or herself.
7. Put all your safety policies in your Policy and Procedures Manual and Employee Manual.
8. Put all your emergency/disaster policies in an Office Emergency/Disaster Manual.
9. Review safety with personnel at least twice a year – different seasons can present different problems.

Make the safety of your property management personnel a high priority. It will help your personnel see how much you care about their well-being. Take a moment to share safety ideas you’re using in your property management office in the comments below.

Jean Storms, MPM® is the founder/author of LandlordSource and has been a NARPM® member since January 1993.

Disclaimer: LandlordSource does not represent the article content in this website as legal advice. It is shared information only and up to the reader to use this information responsibly, seeking legal advice as necessary to their business.