10 Workplace Security Technologies and Best Practices

Creating a workplace security plan is all about mitigating risk. A number of security threats can play out at a workplace. Security best practices are there to eliminate those threats, either by slowing an assailant down or discouraging them altogether. With proper security measures, it will create near-impossible conditions for criminal activities to succeed.

Don’t be complacent about workplace security. If you think certain security situations would never play out at your workplace, you may put everyone at risk. Be proactive and be ready. Address vulnerabilities today so that you aren’t paying for them tomorrow. The ultimate workplace security best practices are to be preventative rather than purely responsive.

Here are ten workplace security technologies and best practices that you should implement:

1. Background Screening Technology

There is a reason why a lot of businesses do background checks. It’s a risk assessment and can identify whether someone is likely to commit a crime against the company. Background screenings are controversial and what you do with the information is up to the business owner. However, they’re valuable in the sense that they provide you with the knowledge that someone’s a potential liability or could become one.

2. Access Control Systems

An access control system controls who enters. It allows you to section off certain areas, using keycards to allow authorized users and obstruct unauthorized users. From call centers to major corporate centers, access control systems are fairly common in security best practices, and rightfully so.

3. Alarm Monitoring

When work isn’t happening, you still want eyes on the property. Alarm monitoring has grown in leaps and bounds in the past two decades. There are silent alarms, video and audio surveillance, access control, RFID tags, and more. Ensure alarms are activated and that the notification system works in case a threat takes place.

4. Concealed Weapon Detection Technology

Concealed weapon detection is a relatively new workplace security option. It allows security professionals to be alerted if someone enters the property with a concealed weapon. The technology does this through monitoring choke-points, aka doorways, turnstiles, and similar pathways. This threat detection platform can identify anything from a gun to a knife and similar weapons, advising you on possible violence before a situation becomes so.

5. Fail-Secure Locks

A fail-secure lock is a type of lock applied to a door and needs power to unlock. If the power goes out or electricity is cut in some way, it prevents an intruder from gaining access. Locking mechanisms like this are frequently used in IT closets, storage rooms, and facilities with sensitive information housed in them.

With cyber-attacks growing more and more frequent, your IT room is arguably the most valuable room you have as a business. Ensure it is locked and thoroughly guarded, such as with video surveillance and other means of monitoring. If someone breaks into a business, the IT room contains sensitive information that may impact your business. Approach your business office and filing office with the same seriousness, protecting all sensitive information with locks and monitoring.

6. Physical Barriers

Banks, government buildings, corporate HQs, and more often have extensive physical barriers intruders must cross before getting to where they want to be. Chain link fences. A revolving door. Freestanding walls. Railings. There are many ways to install physical barriers that will slow someone down should they enter with an intent to harm. This provides a security professional more time to act and notify the authorities.

7. Real-Time CCTV Monitoring

Real-time CCTV monitoring records and retains video on an ongoing basis. Through strategically-placed video surveillance, you don’t necessarily even need a human being operating the cameras. Automated AI-based technology can notify you when/if there’s a perceived threat, even when you aren’t at work.

8. Lighting

Lighting means there’s no place to hide. This is why a lot of luxury homes have lighting on the perimeter of their build. At work, this helps you to spot criminals and guarantees a certain level of visibility which could deter someone from attempting a break-in. Motion-activated lights add perceived safety as well, which is something employees are sure to appreciate.

9. Security Training

Employees can’t be trained on every possible security situation, but they can be shown expectations on a few. Advise them on what to do in case of an emergency. Identify emergency evacuation routes. Let them know who to contact if they see a perceived security threat. Any policies relating to security can also be communicated to employees, ensuring they know the course of action to take.

10. Mass Notification System

A mass notification system is a way to communicate to everyone if there’s an emergency. In security, this can be very handy in minimizing panic, communicating instructions, and informing relevant stakeholders on what has happened. Even when employees haven’t been previously briefed on a situation, a security professional can send out instructions in an instant through mass notification.