“Safety doesn’t happen by accident,” as the old saying goes. This popular quote is a timely reminder to continuously check up on your workplace’s security environment. Even though most working days in a year can go by without any earth-shaking incidents taking place, no company’s leadership should skimp on efforts to achieve complete workplace security.
Workplace security constitutes several key measures: how many security staff members to deploy on the perimeters, how much to spend on tools and technology, and what physical and/or digital infrastructure to install to protect company assets. Last, create a functional workplace security policy as soon as possible.
What is a workplace security policy?
A workplace security policy is a set of standardized rules governing how all employees must behave and conduct themselves in order to protect the company from injury, intrusion, crime, and the like. A finalized workplace security policy should be a comprehensive framework of how to keep the organization’s people, data, property, equipment, and financial assets safe and out of harm’s way.
Aside from being thorough, the security policy should also be clear, instructive, and easy for everyone to understand. It’s important for everyone in the workplace including executives, maintenance personnel, and security officers to embrace their individual roles in keeping the workplace environment secure. Full security in the workplace will be the fruit of a collective and concerted effort. Your workplace security policy should include points of action that can be observed by everyone.
If you don’t know where to start, here are 6 key points of action. Please consider these while you,re in the process of drafting your workplace security policy with the rest of the company’s leadership.
1. Authentication
Means of authentication should be a major point of consideration in your workplace security policy. List the measures to be taken in order to oversee the entry and exit of authorized employees onto the premises.
Install a biometrics system and explain to your entire workforce how to use it. In addition, call for strict adherence to the wearing of IDs while in the workplace. You can also make your employees wear a custom lanyard emblazoned with the company’s name, logo, and colors. This will serve as a quick visual cue of their identity to security staff and fellow employees.
2. Surveillance
The workplace security policy should also contain a note on surveillance. This is where you inform your employees about the installation of a surveillance system. The knowledge that someone’s actions can be caught on tape and reviewed for accountability can help employees feel safer, as well as deter any unauthorized personnel from breaching security and committing crime.
3. Securing points of access
Employees and security staff should also be able to map the entrances, exits, stairwells, and emergency fire exits that they have access to. This is so that they know where to go in case of danger, and what locations to use as a point of reference in case criminal activity occurs.
4. Policy for visitors
Special attention should also be focused on any visitors to the premises so that even non-employees of the company can uphold its veneer of safety and security. Disseminate guidelines to the specific departments regarding the protocols that a visitor should follow, such as procuring a letter of permission, leaving a valid ID card upon arrival at the office, and signing the company’s logbook. Each department expecting a visitor should be responsible for informing them about the company’s security policies.
5. Digital accounts management
Some of the most potent security risks to a company’s assets are digital as opposed to those that can take place directly onsite. Part of the workplace security policy should also discuss how to counter cyber-security threats, such as hacking and phishing. In this portion, remind your employees to be careful about the passwords they use on company computers, to log off and shut down when it’s time to leave the premises, and to install all necessary anti-virus software. This will ensure that the company’s financial assets and private information are safe from being compromised.
6. Incident management and protocols for incident reporting
Unsavory incidents can also happen within the company’s team, and it’s ideal that an employee knows what necessary actions to take in case their rights are violated. In this section of the workplace security policy, provide a template for incident reports that an unhappy employee can fill out. Also, leave the name and contact details of a company officer who can help them resolve their cases.
Final thoughts
The company’s security staff isn’t the only one responsible for protecting employees. This is a duty that can be undertaken by everyone, as long as they know which safeguards are in place.
A reliable workplace security policy will lead to higher morale among employees, better productivity, decreased costs for business interruption, and a stellar company reputation. If you haven’t done so already, it’s high time to enact a workplace security policy that will inspire the company’s most valuable assets: its people.
