Office safety and security should be important topics for any business, no matter its industry, size, and scope. Ensuring the workplace is up to security standards has many benefits for your company. For example, it can help you comply with data protection laws and avoid regulatory issues. Additionally, it can guarantee the safety of your employees, customers, and equipment. Clear and effective security policies and measures will also increase staff productivity and ensure day-to-day activities go as planned.
In other words, office security is not an issue you should neglect or take lightly. In this article, we will give you some practical tips on how to improve your office security and implement the most essential policies and technology.
Assess the Risk Associated with the Workplace
Before you start improving the security of your workplace, you need to do a thorough vulnerability and risk assessment of the premises. It involves analyzing the equipment and processes in the office and pinpointing areas that can be a potential security risk. You should especially focus on the way you process and keep information and personal records. In today’s digital world, data theft happens quite frequently. Consult with IT professionals to define any vulnerabilities in your systems.
Depending on the nature of your business, you might have vastly different areas to analyze. For example, if your office works directly with customers, you need to have strict policies as to what information and equipment they have access to. Risk assessment should result in a list of all potential security issues. Once you have that in place, you can start devising strategies for dealing with each item on the list. For example, making sure that your staff are aware of where the fire doors are located.
Develop and Implement Safety Policies
You need to go over the list of potential security threats and come up with processes, procedures, and immediate actions you can take in order to minimize the risk involved. All this should go into a unified security policy that needs to be presented to your entire staff. If you already have such a policy in place, make sure you reevaluate and update it. Identify potential gaps in your existing processes and take the steps needed to fix them.
One of the pillars of a good security strategy is to have regular safety and security training sessions for your entire staff. We recommend coming up with a monthly or quarterly event that all employees are required to attend. Of course, any new hires must be introduced to your security policies on their first day on the job.
Install Surveillance and Alarms
One of the essential ways to improve the security of your office is to invest in an industry-grade surveillance system. While the cost might seem high, you can rest assured that the investment is more than worth the money. Such systems can help you investigate issues on one hand and discourage both your staff and customers from causing problems on the other.
Alarms that alert the local authorities in case of a break-in will make sure your office is safe even during non-business hours. You should also look into installing a Bluetooth panic button for any emergencies that occur during work time. Overall, surveillance systems are one of the best deterrents of criminal activity — make sure you look into viable options for your business.
Secure Your Office Equipment
If your office has valuable items and expensive equipment, you need to make sure they are safe from theft. Installing a safe for any valuables is an effective way of ensuring they won’t be easily stolen during a break-in. We recommend you secure any stationery equipment by tethering it to the floor or the desk where it stays.
Any equipment that is actively used by your employees needs to be cataloged, so you know which person is responsible for it. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for employees to sometimes steal from their own office. For such cases, you need to have a process for dealing with the issue without causing too much of a hassle and disrupting the work process.
Hire Security Guards
Implement ID Badges and a Visitor Management System
If your office gets frequent visits by clients or business partners, we highly recommend installing a visitor management system. All your employees should be equipped with an ID card that has their name and occupation. Ideally, they would use this card to access and leave the office. Any visitors should receive a “guest badge” with which they have to check in and out. As a result, you will have a better overview of the flow of people in your office.
Conclusion
Office safety and security are paramount for the success of your business. From risk assessment and devising procedures to installing surveillance and hiring security guards — all those steps will help make your workplace a well-controlled and monitored zone. With proper security measures, you will not have to worry about data or property theft, be it from employees or other people. On top of that, your staff will appreciate the protection and rules, which will result in increased productivity.
