The New Black Friday Safety Protocols, Explained

(Nov. 25) -- The unbridled success of Black Friday retail promotions has inspired a second tradition: gaping at the casualty manifests rolling in on the days that follow. After a temporary Walmart worker was trampled to death last year in Valley Stream, N.Y., the retail industry and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) took the unprecedented step of developing procedural guidelines to keep any more bargain hunters from being trampled, punched, gashed, bitten, kicked, maimed, tackled or shot as they ring in the official start of the Yuletide season. Some of these rules seem extreme, until you consider the astonishing breakdown of decency and decorum that inspired them. To wit:

Allowing Everyone to Rush in at Once Will Result in Everyone Rushing In at Once
OSHA and the National Retail Federation (NRF) suggest using barricades and rope lines to maintain a semblance of order for the queue. Moreover, OSHA says, the lines should have "an adequate number of breaks and turns at regular intervals to reduce the risk of customers pushing from the rear and possibly crushing others, including employees." This is meant to lessen the possibility of a stampede like the one in Michigan in 2005 that knocked a man off his feet and forced him to crawl to the children's clothing section to seek shelter. Such a system will also address the problem of line-cutting, which lies at the heart of many Black Friday disputes. For example, three years ago at a Best Buy in Scranton, Pa., a group of late-arriving shoppers barged in front of hundreds of customers, many of whom had been waiting all night. The exchange that followed inspired the store manager to climb onto a trash barrel and threaten to call the police.

Speaking of ... Having Police on Hand Can Be Helpful
NRF: "Make arrangements for extra staffing and additional security personnel in locations where a history of prior incidents warrants increased attention." OSHA: "Staff entrances with uniformed guards, police or other authority personnel."

Store Personnel May Be Invisible to Bargain-Crazed Shoppers
OSHA suggests that retailers "position security or crowd managers to the sides of entering (or exiting) public, not in the center of their path." In 2006, several employees of a Columbus, Ohio, Walmart were pinned against shelves by the customers storming in at 5 a.m. "Oh, my god, stop pushing me, oh, my god," one 47-year-old staffer reportedly screamed. That same year, the shops in the Fashion Place Mall in Murray, Utah, were so overrun that one shoe store employee had to evacuate and enlist his mother to guard the door to make sure no one else got in. The 2008 stampede that resulted in the death of the New York Walmart worker was so intense it sent other employees scaling vending machines to get out of the way. "They tore the doors off the hinges," remarked one.

An Idle Mob Can Easily Turn Into an Angry Mob
Since many shoppers camp out in line all night, in the cold, sometimes in the rain, exhausted from their Thanksgiving revelry, familial stresses and the attending tryptophan overdose, it's not surprising that they may be on edge. The NRF suggests using monitors to keep customers updated on the progress of the line, and even providing entertainment to keep things festive. That said, the NRF notes that "security for both the celebrity/entertainer and customers should be taken into consideration."

If You Make People Really, Really Want Something, They Will Do Virtually Anything to Get It
In the defining Black Friday tactic, retailers offer steep discounts on a severely limited supply of particular items, generally TVs or computers, to generate a sense of urgency among customers. These are known as "doorbusters," a term that used to be figurative. Sharron Lennon, a professor at the University of Delaware studying the phenomenon of Black Friday violence, says the incessant presale promotions give some customers the impression that they will be able to get whatever they want at the doorbuster price. "When expectations are not met, which will happen a lot," she says, "then negative emotion is evoked and aggressive outcomes can ensue." At a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, last year, a man was so frantic about obtaining a discounted television that he tried to wrestle it away from an employee before it could be placed on the display, resulting in 19 stitches to the customer's hand. A similar 1998 rush for Furby dolls in O'Fallon, Ill., culminated in a customer being bitten (an altercation that itself echoed the Tickle Me Elmo riots of '96). At a Lincoln, Neb., Walmart, a near riot was sparked in 2005 by a display of $378 laptops. "As soon as someone picked up a box, someone else knocked them down," said one witness. "A couple guys went flying over the pile and dove into the middle," said another. As a palliative, OSHA recommends "using mechanisms such as numbered wristbands or tickets to provide the earlier-arriving customers with first access to sale items" and employing an "Internet lottery for 'hot' items."

Pain Should Be Taken to Keep Displays and Merchandise Earthbound
OSHA suggests that retailers "locate shopping carts and other potential obstacles or projectiles inside the store and away from the entrance." While in riot situations it's never a bad idea to assume that anything not bolted to the ground will eventually be thrown at you, this part of the new protocols is short-sighted: Save for a woman who started a brawl by throwing an orange peel at a fellow shopper's car at a Toys 'R Us in West Hartford, Conn., in 2004, projectile-related problems have historically been initiated by store associates themselves. Four years ago, for instance, employees at an Orlando, Fla., Walmart began sending heavily discounted laptops airborne as the crowd advanced on them. According to a witness, "They were throwing laptops 20 feet in the air, and people were collapsing on each other to grab them." In 2006, management at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, Calif., dropped 500 prize-filled balloons onto a crowd. This special thank-you to the mall's valued customers left 10 injured, including an elderly woman. The lesson: Everything needs to stay on the ground.