Industry News: Workplace Safety Rises with Hospital System’s Wearable Panic Buttons
Pennsylvania Health System Rolls Out Workplace Violence Prevention Strategy
Like all healthcare facilities, WellSpan Health is concerned about the safety of its staff and patients and takes steps to prevent workplace violence and injuries.
With nine hospitals and more than 220 care services locations in Pennsylvania and Maryland, WellSpan lacked a unified approach to physical safety across its facilities, and that caused response challenges. For example, the method used to contact security differed by location, which could sometimes result in delays.
After a security and risk assessment, WellSpan decided to focus on improving the speed of incident notifications. It established a central emergency operations center with a unified notification platform, moving toward a more holistic ecosystem with a connected safety platform. To accomplish this, WellSpan invested in wearable panic buttons and a connected safety platform from Canopy and standardized emergency notification procedures across all its facilities.
Now, at the push of the button, a discrete and instant signal is sent to the central security center, which can inform security personnel if the incident is high risk. The system also provides incident data, enabling personnel to cross-reference incident reports and statistics to verify internal reporting.
Within one year of implementing the new organization-wide system, WellSpan saw a drop in workplace violence incidents of roughly 66 percent, as well as an increase in reports of early-stage escalations. This indicated that staff was increasingly comfortable in using the buttons to prevent an incident as soon as one seemed likely to develop.
Mergers & Moves
Pye-Barker Fire & Safety // Fire Protection Specialists
Fire protection, life safety, and security services provider Pye-Barker acquired Fire Protection Specialists. The purchase is expected to strengthen Pye-Barker’s services for customers in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, as well as add integrated services to existing fire alarm and security offerings.
Assa Abloy // Sentinel Dock & Door
Assa Abloy’s recent acquisition of the Ontario-headquartered company is expected to improve its position in mature markets with the addition of complementary products and solutions while also broadening its presence in Canada.
Dormakaba // Airsphere GmbH
With the acquisition of international software company Airsphere, which specializes in passenger management systems for airports, dormakaba will expand its portfolio to include established software solutions for the automation of passenger processes, airport logistics, and critical infrastructure security.
Allied Universal // Investigative Risk Management (IRM)
Allied Universal announced its acquisition of IRM, an Ontario-based firm that provides workplace investigations, insurance claims investigations, and risk management services. Upon joining, IRM’s services will expand Allied Universal’s investigative portfolio in Canada.
Awards
Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing ethical business practices standards, named Johnson Controls as one of the 2026 World’s Most Ethical Companies. This is the 19th time the company has been on this list.
Contracts
The OCVIBE—an anticipated $4 billion entertainment district project planned for Anaheim, California, ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics—selected TKH Security’s automated parking guidance system Park Assist Solution to help visitors have efficient, safe, and sustainable parking options.
Reports
While an estimated 43 percent of family offices were hit by cyberattacks during the past two years, nearly a fifth of those organizations lack a recovery plan, according to global research insights from specialist global service provider Ocorian. Offices surveyed were based in Bahrain, Bermuda, Cayman, Guernsey, Hong Kong, India, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UAE, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
HiveWatch released The State of Physical Security Operations in 2026, a new report analyzing how enterprise physical security programs perform against operational realities. The report, which surveyed 300 U.S.-based professionals responsible for operations relating to physical security, identified a gap between confidence and operational effectiveness regarding security operations centers.
NCC Group published a new report that found that ransomware activity remained high throughout April 2026, despite a modest month-to-month decline. Out of the 748 reported ransomware incidents worldwide, the most targeted sector was industrials, accounting for 28 percent of all attacks, and North America was the most impacted region.
Announcements
The Security Industry Association (SIA) will host its annual Perimeter PREVENT in Washington, D.C., on 24 June. The event offers engagement on critical issues related to perimeter defense.
Gallagher Security is inviting security professionals to participate in its annual global security industry research project, which is currently open for contributions.
A new training and certification program will support industrywide workforce development to address a security skills gap. I-Pro Americas Inc., recently launched i-Pro University, reflecting the company’s broader commitment to readying the industry with brand-agnostic technical and sales training.
Partnerships
Security testing. Synack has expanded its existing partnership with CREST—an international not-for-profit organization that establishes technical security testing standards—with the addition of two new CREST certifications to the Synack Red Team Pathways program.
Drug trafficking. The respective border and customs administrations of Belgium, Canada, France, and The Netherlands signed a letter of intent to strengthen their commitment to work closer together to upset international drug trafficking by sharing information and best practices, as well as collaborating on joint operations.
Identity verification. ID verification and fraud prevention technology provider IDScan.net announced a new collaboration with DSI Security Services, a U.S. provider of integrated security solutions. The partnership will allow DSI’s residential, commercial, and industrial clients an expanded portfolio of ID verification and visitor management solutions.
Drones. Radar platform company Echodyne partnered with Axon, a public safety technology provider, to deliver a range of homeland security and law enforcement UAS applications, as well as drone-as-first-responder applications.
Supply chain. IDScan.net joined the Southwest Transportation Security Council, the Northeast Cargo Security Council, and the Midwest Cargo Security Council, reinforcing the company’s commitment to combatting identity fraud in logistics and freight industries. As a member of these councils, the company will collaborate with industry leaders, law enforcement, and others to deal with evolving threats in cargo theft, identity fraud, and supply chain vulnerabilities.
