National Restaurant Association Releases New Public Safety Guide to Help Restaurants be Always Ready

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Restaurant Association today released Always Ready: Public Safety, a new resource designed to help restaurant operators and employees prepare for, manage, and recover from public safety incidents.

Restaurants are built on hospitality and openness, serving as gathering places for families, friends, and communities. While that accessibility is essential to the industry, it can also create vulnerabilities. From robberies and customer altercations to break-ins and active threats, restaurant operators face a range of public safety challenges that can arise with little warning.

The Always Ready: Public Safety guide provides a practical framework to help operators reduce risks, strengthen preparedness, and support employees and guests when incidents occur. The guide emphasizes that while no business can eliminate every threat, restaurants can improve safety through planning, training, and clear response procedures.

"For restaurant operators, safety preparedness is good business," said Michelle Korsmo, President & CEO of the National Restaurant Association. "Having a plan in place when the unexpected happens safeguards their ability to make informed decisions during fast-moving and volatile situations. With restaurant-specific tools, this Always Ready guide from the National Restaurant Association equips operators to prepare in advance for public safety scenarios, manage them effectively in the moment, and recover business operations as quickly and safely as possible."  

Built around three key phases, the guide helps operators:

• Prepare for public safety incidents by identifying vulnerabilities, improving facility security, strengthening procedures, and training employees.
• Manage incidents through clear emergency protocols that prioritize life safety, communication, and coordination with first responders.
• Recover by supporting employees and guests, documenting events, coordinating with insurers and authorities, and restoring operations safely.

In addition to prevention and response strategies, Always Ready: Public Safety offers guidance on crisis communications, recovery planning, insurance considerations, and long-term reputation management.

Always Ready: Public Safety is the fifth guide in the National Restaurant Association’s Always Ready preparedness series, created by the restaurant industry specifically for the restaurant industry. Together, the five guides provide practical, industry-informed resources to help operators prepare for, manage, and recover from public safety incidents, utility disruptions, foodborne illness outbreaks, fires, and natural disasters. To download the new guide and explore the complete series, visit the Always Ready: Public Safety page.