How to Ensure the Security of Your Office Building

With theft on the rise in the U.S., as a result of a variety of factors – including the pandemic – businesses are thinking more and more about how to protect their interests and their premises.

Here are six solutions to security in your workplace, from setting alarms to training your staff.

Use an Alarm System

Alarm systems are incredibly effective for ensuring the security of your office space; there is a reason they are so ubiquitous, after all! In terms of burglary, setting alarms on the premises is a great deterrent – especially if the alarm system is visible to the burglar. In the event of triggering one, the loud noise and instant alerting of emergency services will ensure the burglars’ swift egress or their capture. You can even employ alarms in-office, to deter employees from attempting to access an unauthorized area.

Use Effective Lighting

With 39% of all U.S. burglaries occurring at night, employing break-in deterrents for night time hours would be wise. One effective way to deter night-time burglary is to install security lighting on the perimeter of your premises; burglars are less likely to go ahead with forcing entry if there is a chance they’ll be visible doing it. Effective security street lights use resistors – specifically light dependent resistors, or LDRs – to switch them on automatically when the ambient light outside dims beyond a certain amount, illuminating darker areas and preventing ease of approach.

Install CCTV

CCTV is a great way to reduce the likelihood of breaking and entering in your office space. Installing cameras to overlook your office’s interior and exterior don’t just give you the opportunity to identify burglars in the event of a breach, but also deter them – if they see an active camera, they are less likely to risk identification, and more likely to call off a burglary attempt.

Being able to see everything that goes on in your office means you have a better chance of identifying any unusual activities and putting a stop to them before they escalate into a crisis. Reserach some effective commercial building security systems that will ensure your office space is monitored and protected at all times. Cameras and alarms should work together to provide the best security coverage for your office building.

Implement Access Control

An elegant solution to security for your office space, implementing security doors which require key card access is a sure-fire way to make sure only authorized personnel enter your office. Key cards are the easiest way to police access to spaces, but if you have a bit more of a budget – and your security requirements are particularly strict – you could implement biometric security solutions. Requiring a fingerprint for access would ensure that there is no possibility of someone stealing their way into the building, keeping it off-limits to all but those on the database.

Keep Important Spaces and Data Locked Up

Designate rooms and spaces in your office for classified or important data, and keep them under lock and key. Whether it’s an expensive piece of proprietary equipment, or sensitive and important information, not every employee needs access to that information all of the time. Entrust senior management with access to them, and have employees request supervised entry – this way, there is always either a lock or a pair of trusted eyes ensuring nothing gets tampered with or goes missing.

Train Your Employees

Security doesn’t stop with locks and installations – vigilance and safety on behalf of your employees is equally important to the security of your office. Make sure your workforce are fully trained on the importance of security, and know procedures for locking up data, and the building. It can also help to train them in cyber-security, which could prevent less technologically literate staff members giving away crucial security information – like key codes to the building – to unauthorized sources.