Worried About Office Security? Use These Tips From A Locksmith To Reduce Risk

The UK is home to over 5.5 million private-sector businesses, many of which have offices. If you run an office building, you’ll be aware of your duty to keep your staff safe. Nobody should go to work and worry about their safety, right? With over 953,000 anti-social behaviour crimes being reported in the last year alone, you must take good care of your office.

The only question, though, is where do you start? Office security can feel quite multifaceted. And not every office has the budget to go for an all-singing, all-dancing comprehensive security setup. That’s why we wanted to provide you with professional security advice from locksmiths at Doncaster Lock & Key.

Why Is Office Security So Important?

Your office needs to be secure so that staff feel safe coming to work. If staff feel unsafe in the office, you are more likely to see issues such as staff absences, lower productivity, and higher staff turnover.

Your office also has to look after its assets. Theft and vandalism of your equipment and your building can become very expensive. People won’t want to work with or hire an office that is littered with graffiti, has smashed windows, and experiences constant staff turnover.

Whether you run a small office for a couple of people or you are employing a growing number of staff, you need to take security seriously. Again, we understand that not every office building has the budget to go all-out on security. We’re not asking you to have Robocop patrolling the halls!

What we suggest, though, is that you at least invest in the following security measures. With these systems in place, you are far less likely to run into problems that put your business or your staff at risk.

The Essential Security Systems Every Office Needs To Have

If you want to make your office more secure, then the advice we give at Lock & Key is to ensure you invest in the following security measures:

Protect Your Office Perimeter

Prevention is better than the cure, they say, and in office security, that is 100% the case. If you stop a criminal from seeing your business as a viable target, you remove the risk of theft or vandalism.

CCTV Cameras

That’s why you need to have high-quality perimeter security. And that starts with installing CCTV cameras. High definition CCTV cameras will be a great way to deter criminals. Look, thieves do NOT want to be caught on camera – they want to work in relative silence and anonymity.

With that in mind, they’ll be far less likely to target a building that has video cameras. They’ll see the cameras and worry about being caught on camera, making it easy for the police to catch them once you report their vandalism or robbery.

Just remember that your CCTV systems need to be smartly positioned. Make sure that they cover every entrance and exit to your building. Don’t just stop at the perimeter, though; internal security cameras around internal entrances and high-traffic areas of the office make a lot of sense, too.

First and foremost, though, ward people off even attempting to break into or vandalise your office. Make them think twice about seeing your business as a soft touch, and you’ll stop a lot of crime.

Perimeter Lighting

We mentioned above that most criminals work in the shadows. So, why not remove the shadows?

Add some perimeter lighting – ideally motion-controlled – and you’ll put another obstacle in place. Given that around 6 in 10 burglaries occur in the evening, high-quality, well-lit security lights will be a great way to make most criminals think twice about targeting your business.

When paired with the security cameras that we mentioned above, you’ll make most criminals pause before they act. It’s also good for your staff, especially if they work late at night. Knowing they’ll be well-lit when entering and leaving the building, and that video surveillance is in place, limits the risk of staff being robbed, attacked, and/or harassed when entering the office building.

The lighting also gives your cameras more visibility, making their presence more known and improving the clarity of their imagery!

Invest In An Alarm System

Of course, while the above one-two punch of cameras and lighting will stop most criminals, it won’t stop all of them. That means you need a deterrent in place to ensure those who attempt to break in are caught. For most offices, that means installing alarm systems at all entrances.

Alarms are great because they can send an immediate notification system to your office management, security department and the local police force. That is a fantastic way to make most criminals stop dead in their tracks.

You can also pair up your alarm systems with intercoms and connect them to the CCTV and lighting systems for a more interconnected security setup. At Lock & Key, we can help you install these systems, ensuring all your security elements work in tandem for greater results.

Internal Office Security

With the above systems, you now have a much more robust perimeter. That stops unwanted visitors and vandals from getting into the building for the most part. What about internal security, though?

Unfortunately, not all crime starts outside the building. That’s why we recommend that you:

Turn To Keyless Access Control

While not every office can afford to go down this route, we highly recommend access control systems for office buildings. These remove the need for keys, but they are also highly secure and convenient.

Keyless access control means giving staff PIN codes, access key cards, fobs, or even biometric scans to enter the building. You can lock off all entrances this way, as well as restrict access to specific areas of the office. You can create hierarchical codes for each department or individual access codes for each staff member. If needed, you can also create one-time visitor access credentials.

This makes it easier to moderate access, reduces the need for key storage (and replacement should anyone lose their key) and also gives you timestamps.

Timestamps are useful because you can link when an access code was used to who it was assigned to, making it easier to tell which staff member was where in a given situation. In the event of an internal investigation, this makes it much easier to pinpoint who was involved – or who may have had their access credentials stolen.

Invest In A Money Safe

A money safe is one of the most important investments you can make, especially if your office deals with a lot of cash. Whether it’s just small amounts of staff cash or your business deals with money in huge quantities, get a safe – not just any safe, but a highly rated Eurograde money safe.

A safe is a highly effective way to store large amounts of cash and ensure they don’t fall into the wrong hands. Most insurance companies will recommend/demand that you have a money safe, so this will also help with insurance compliance. Ensure your safe of choice is approved by the Association of Insurance Surveyors (AiS) for the best results. 

Also, ensure it’s fire and water-resistant. In the event of an emergency, this keeps the cash inside from serious damage.

Create Safer Document Storage

We also highly recommend keeping all important documentation in a secure storage room. Our advice would be to have a room specifically for storing key documents, and to use a keyed lock on the door and on each cabinet.

Documents that get lost, stolen or damaged can compromise your office’s efficiency and reputation. It could even lead to legal proceedings or serious financial implications in some cases. Any key documents should be kept in a place accessible only to management and senior staff, behind high-security locks for peace of mind. Or, pair this up with your access control system.

Secure All Hardware Devices

From staff computers to tablets, make sure every digital device your staff uses is properly locked and secured at all times. Mandate biometric access or a specific PIN for all hardware to help ensure your staff cannot easily access devices. Also, no easy passwords, and replacing passwords every 3-6 months is non-negotiable.

You may even wish to invest in device locks, which make it much tougher for someone to steal your hardware from the office itself. These are much like a bike lock, and can turn tablets and computers into near-immovable objects. That’s a cost-effective way to limit shrinkage and device loss.

Turn The Tables On Criminals With Our Office Security Solutions

With the above advice, you should find it much easier to make your office a little more secure. It does not take huge investments or time to make these possible. With our help, you can easily apply the above features and make your office more secure.

Reduce the risk of theft, property loss, vandalism, and staff assault at work. Make your office a safer place and immediately reduce the risk of internal crime. Why wait until an incident occurs? Be proactive, and make your office safer for everyone!