As thieves and vandals become ever more enterprising in finding ways to damage businesses, business owners and managers need to be ever more vigilant in ensuring that they tightly control access to all areas of the business. It is imperative that access is always restricted to authorized personnel only, and it is also essential to continually audit procedures to watch out for potential weaknesses in the system. Large office buildings are harder to control than smaller ones, so owners and managers need to think outside the box when devising a security protocol. Here are 3 tips to reduce risk.
- Do not skimp on electronic access systems and monitoring. Modern security installations are sophisticated, but a lot of their usefulness is lost if they are not connected to a 24/7 monitoring system. While employers can be diligent in doing thorough checks on the people they employ directly, businesses also have to grant access to people working for other companies. This includes people like cleaners, catering staff, repair engineers, and so on. Since it would be impossible to vet every one of these, the next best thing is to monitor what they are doing when on the site. The site should be comprehensively covered by CCTV technology, and the cameras should be monitored constantly.
- It’s best to use electronic access for all employees. Millions of dollars of damage are done annually to their employers by people who were unhappy at being given the sack, or who missed out on promotion. Too many businesses rely on outdated systems where employees can get access by punching a code. It may not be practical to change the code every time somebody is dismissed. When each employee has a unique electronic card he or she uses to get in, it is simple to block that card as soon as the decision to fire the employee has been made.
- Many businesses process sensitive data, and the growth in automated electronic fund transfers means even a relatively small firm could hold credit card details, or other sensitive personal information, on thousands of people. Letting that information fall into the hands of the wrong person could be disastrous. Regular audits of the IT systemsshould be made to ensure that employees can only access data that they are entitled to access. Vulnerabilities should be given priority as soon as they are identified, and eliminated as quickly as possible.
