Securing Your Business Premises
Theft is one of the biggest crimes facing businesses, both big and small. The assets that thieves can steal from a business tend to be much more valuable than those that they can get from domestic properties. And when criminals know they can access your company and get their hands on high-value goods, they are more likely to come back for more. But it’s important not to wait until it’s too late. Otherwise, you could end up with a time-consuming and costly disruption to your operations and sales. While the measures you should take will depend on the size and nature of your business, this information should help you make a start on securing your premises from theft.
It is a wise move to invest most of your security budget into securing the main access points to your business. Thieves tend to break into buildings through doors and windows. As mentioned above, the exact measures you should take will depend on the scale of your business premises. But automatic gates, security grilles, alarmed doors and windows and robust locking systems are examples of some of the sensible measures you could take.
You should also consider which areas within the premises require special security. Perhaps there is a room in your office where the majority of your valuable tech equipment is stored. You may wish to consider alarming entry points to high-risk rooms and fitting keypad entry to protect your company’s most valuable assets when the building is vacant.
Security lighting is an effective measure that most businesses will invest in order to better protect their premises. Security lighting can be fitted on the exterior of buildings, and you can opt for lights that are on all the time or those that are motion activated. These lights help to illuminate areas of your premises that thieves might use to enter and therefore they act as an effective deterrent. This is an affordable option if you also want to provide security in less obvious areas that thieves may still use like cellars, roofs, and skylights.
CCTV is another important security measure that you should take to reduce your premises’ vulnerability to crime. Again, cameras should be fitted at the main access points to the building. It is important to remember that whenever a business installs CCTV at their premises there are laws and regulations that they must comply with. This includes providing signs indicating that there is CCTV in operation and complying with image retention schedules.
A central alarm system is also crucial in deterring crime. Make sure you make it known that you have a robust alarm system in an attempt to further ward off criminals.
Luckily there are many things that businesses can do to protect their premises from business theft. With this kind of crime posing a real risk to enterprises, it would be wise to carry out a regular risk assessment of your premises and to provide adequate security measures.
