10 Tips to Help Secure Your Business Property

Honest, hardworking men can be seen working long hours to make their businesses thrive.

Unfortunately, however, criminals are working equally hard for dishonest gains. Every year, many small and medium-sized businesses lose a lot of money million burglaries, identity theft and other crimes.

To keep our business properties secure we must stay vigilant and institute a variety of security measures that deter potential criminals. Here are a few tips to help keep your property secure:

1. The Right Staff Training

Information empowers people. Each staff member needs to be aware of what to do in the case of a threat and should know the emergency exit. Additionally they should know where to find help and who to call if need be.

The guards (if any) should have some basic security training. They must learn to be extremely observant, and good at spotting suspects. They need to be conversant with basics like camera positioning and maintaining entry and exit records.

2. Install a third eye: CCTV surveillance

Cameras can sometimes do a better job before a theft than after. When intruders know the premises are covered, they refrain from breaking in for obvious reasons—they will be caught in the act. As we all know video evidence is always extremely useful for investigations.

1. Hire competent guards

Guards, though sometimes taken for granted, can prevent a lot of things from happening. A good guard can distinguish potential threats from genuine customers. You can also have your guards run checks on everyone coming into your property. Guards can also keep an eye on the stuff people carry while leaving your business property.

3. Use security gates

For the longest time, gates have been the only barriers business properties have. They still act as a solid physical security system for businesses. There’s a wide variety of options when it comes to business and commercial security gates, with some automatic and others manually operated.

4. Distinguish between staff and guests

One of the easiest forms of robbery is when an intruder is able to easily walk into restricted areas, like the rest of the staff, and pick up whatever they want. Your security guards may not know everyone, so having a way to identify authorized people really helps. You can make use of a variety of access control systems to keep away outsiders.

5. Limit entry points

Some properties are designed in such a way that people can enter the building from a number of doors. This increases the risk of theft because intruders can easily advantage of any unmanned doors. The ideal property should have just one main entrance and one main exit point.

6. Protect your information and data

A lot of people forget to shred business documents before disposing of them. While these may seem useless, they can be a great source of information to some people. But in 2018 and beyond that’s not your only concern, cyber security is a real threat and one that should be taken extremely seriously.

Vital documents should be kept under lock and key. For very sensitive information, such documents should be kept in fireproof cabinets and under dual control, so that even malicious staff members have limited access to sensitive data.

7. Vet your staff and perform background checks

Criminals sometimes collude with staff members. Be sure to have a system in place to vet your employees. Check their references and review records of their past workplaces. Be mindful of who you assign access codes and keys to sensitive information.

Use registers if need be so that handovers can be recorded and each custodian signs to acknowledge that they are accepting responsibility. This will help prevent employees from shifting blame or engaging in petty theft.

8. Maintain updated assets and stock records

Some of the loopholes that eat into our revenue can be sealed with just a few minor adjustments. If assets are labeled and inventory is taken regularly, internal theft can be kept at a minimum. Office equipment should be clearly tagged to make it easy to distinguish between items.

9. Continuous risk and structure assessment

It’s highly advisable that you conduct routine checks on the business. Through regular risk assessment, you can become aware of every loophole that needs to be sealed. Have your staff take stock of the security policies and laid out procedures.

It would be pointless to have systems that are not fully functional. Confirm that the cameras are working and the alarm activates as it should in case of an intrusion.

Conclusion

Having security gates and CCTV surveillance systems is essential to securing your business property. In addition to having these in place, it’s important to remember that security is a collective responsibility, and it helps if everyone in the business is playing their role effectively.