• Advise management and employees to report any suspicious persons or activity in or around the facility.
• Establish and follow visitor control procedures such as mandatory sign-ins, name badges, escorts, orientation, etc.
• Survey locks, fences, exterior lights and other physical security devices to ensure that they are in place where needed and in proper operating condition. Establish a monthly inspection of your security perimeter and key protective features of your facility.
• Pay special attention to areas where you are storing explosive, flammable or toxic chemicals. These areas should be properly secured and inventoried, with limited hands-on contact of these materials when possible.
• Evaluate critical locations in your facility for proper security, including the electric, telephone and gas units, building entrances, transformers, outside storage units and computer rooms.
• If your facility has a security/fire alarm system, be sure it is operating properly and that key personnel know how to arm/disarm it.
• Make sure that fire suppression systems are regularly inspected and maintained. Also, be sure that a sufficient number of trusted personnel know how to activate, operate and shut them down.
• Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) can serve as an excellent crime deterrent that can help solve crimes when equipped with a recorder.
• Review your procedures for issuing facility keys and access cards. At a minimum, keep lists of who has been issued keys/cards and have a procedure for handling a situation when a troubled employee is terminated without returning them.
• Discuss security with your local police department. Police departments are often very willing to provide information and support to businesses and industries.
• Have your local fire department conduct a pre-planned visit to your building. While there, they can identify potential hazards and plan fire suppression priorities.
Without prior planning, you leave your company open to financial disaster, especially if you are forced to close operations for any length of time. In addition, without a proper plan to cope with a disaster situation, your company may face lawsuits from clients, vendors or employees claiming negligence.
