Your facility stores valuable items and assets like equipment, software, inventory and maintenance records. So how do you maintain facility security and protect your assets? Fortunately, facility management software makes this task easy.

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What This Article Covers:

• What Is Facility Security?
• Components
• Facility Security Solutions
• Who Is Responsible?
• Security Officer Responsibilities
• What Is a Facility Security Plan?
• Developing a Plan
• Conclusion

What Is Facility Security?

Facility security is the process of protecting your physical space, hardware and software from unauthorized internal factors and external threats. It considers access control mechanisms, inventory management, visitor management and maintenance records.

Facility security includes ensuring all of the company’s safety rules are observed regularly. It involves prioritizing everyone in the office, from workers to suppliers to guests, to be safe and sound at all times.

It involves monitoring everyday actions relating to entrance and exit, video surveillance and other equipment connected to security. It also includes analyzing closed-circuit footage, maintaining security compliance and overseeing employee access to restricted and protected locations.

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Components

Facility security has a few components that organizations must consider to safeguard their assets.

Here are the main components of facility security.

1. Procedure and Equipment

Personnel is crucial to a safe and secure environment, but they are not the only factor to consider. There are additional equipment and procedures, albeit the security team’s ability limits their usefulness.

When safeguarding locations that house expensive or hazardous goods, it is essential to follow specific protocols. It is prudent to keep sensitive spaces and things as physically apart as possible to make it more difficult for an intruder to steal valuables. However, a facility’s security strategy may require the concentration of high-risk locations under tighter surveillance.

You may need access control, monitoring, detection, communication and incident response gadgets. Controlling who gains entry may be as basic as installing locks or as complex as using biometric scanning equipment that reads a person’s fingerprints or iris. Cameras are the most common surveillance technology. However, you can also use other detection tools like motion detectors and sirens.

Provide staff with means of communication with one another and the head office. They should also be able to get in touch with outside providers in case of a significant security breach or other emergencies.

2. Audits and Critical System Checklist

Audits are dispassionate examinations of a company or other entity; here, they assess potential dangers to the safety of a building and its activities. They provide an in-depth analysis of the facility security guide and how well it works in practice. They assess the security of a building and provide recommendations for strengthening protections against unlawful entry and disruptive incidents.

Facility management and security staff may help the audits by giving information on the technological aspects of the facility. Further, they can perform timely audits in the site development process.

Due to this, not only will the building’s layout be more conducive to your needs, but it will also help mitigate potential dangers during construction. The auditor will also look for security concerns and code violations associated with the facility’s vehicles, fire control systems, electrical components, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC).

When it comes to the communication component of facility security, the auditor will check the automation systems and their interaction with the public and emergency communications. When a building security audit is complete, send the findings and subsequent action plan to the appropriate authorities and personnel. Update the facility security guide in light of the audits; this communication is crucial to that process.

3. Attack and Threat Assessment

It’s essential to remember that the nature of the assaults and threats a facility faces might vary widely depending on its intended use and contents. Use the analysis results to refine existing security procedures and introduce new ones to better deal with identified vulnerabilities.

Once the security system is in place, the best method to deter any danger is to create a facility maintenance checklist and go through it regularly to check for any issues that might compromise the building’s security.

4. Security Countermeasures

Many businesses have turned to the future of technology integration in security to combat both present and potential dangers. Costs associated with modems, lines and cable installation and upkeep have decreased as internet use, and other forms of digital communication have become standard in the office.

It allows managers more leeway in deciding how to allocate resources, what to outsource and how much to spend on operations. Monitoring can be consolidated into a single location (such as a network or laptop), making it easier to keep tabs on extensive and complicated systems.

The fact that monitoring and countermeasures may be operated from afar increases the scope for cooperation and adaptability. But the internet also provides another potential entry point. An intruder via the internet might access sensitive data and information if they break into the facility’s server system.

Having extra identifying information might be helpful in an emergency or card theft. Biometrics can help provide order and credibility to the world of security.

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Facility Security Solutions

There are various facility security solutions that you can utilize to ensure maximum security for your personnel and equipment.

Let’s take a look at some popular facility security solutions.

1. Access Control

A vital part of any comprehensive security system, access control is a must. By implementing a high-quality access control system at entry points, you may restrict who is allowed to enter your property and which sections they can access while inside.

Another way is using an intruder alarm system, which triggers an alarm when an unauthorized party enters your premises.

2. CCTV and Video Surveillance

CCTV and video surveillance systems are also crucial in defending your location from external and internal threats. When setting up a CCTV system, it’s important to remember a few basics:

• High-definition (HD) cameras capture crystal-clear video, now standard on all reputable CCTV systems. It’s also essential to consider night surveillance and supplementary lighting for places with poor night-time visibility.
• Eliminate any potential weak points on the perimeter and within the building. Internal theft is as much of an issue as external theft, mainly when it involves expensive property or private information. Since they are trained to discover weaknesses, most others overlook, security experts should always be consulted for a complete evaluation to help you design the best defense.
• Today’s technologies are so advanced that a human monitor isn’t always necessary. When motion is detected, modern CCTV and video surveillance systems may give you an alert and immediately begin recording footage.

3. Fire Protection

Many of us are familiar with fire protection systems like fire detection and alarms and different suppression systems like sprinklers because of their importance. That’s why checking that all your plans are in excellent working order is crucial.

In addition, they should provide adequate safety measures for the activities there; for instance, industrial facilities and chemical labs face far more complicated issues and more considerable dangers for fire safety than offices or schools.

4. Security Integration and Growth Monitoring

Cutting-edge security solutions may help you meet these problems head-on, protecting your employees and property.

Through systems integration, you can manage all of your security systems in one location, streamlining operations and saving money on person-hours spent operating the various systems separately.

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Who Is Responsible?

A facility security officer’s duties include maintaining order and safety in their designated area by detecting and reporting suspicious or out-of-the-ordinary behavior.

Officers are responsible for implementing all applicable safety policies and procedures to keep the facility running smoothly and without incident. And when there’s a violation, they work with the police to investigate it thoroughly.

In addition to an extensive understanding of the law, an officer has to be a strong leader in managing the group they are responsible for protecting.

Security Officer Responsibilities

Keeping a company’s database safe from hackers and other malicious actors falls within the purview of facility security professionals.

Updating hardware and software, setting networks for maximum efficiency, dealing with any unwanted database access, identifying and fixing inconsistencies in the system, performing security audits, and enhancing automated procedures are all part of a security specialist’s daily routine.

A security expert requires not just extensive technical knowledge but also a firm grasp of several programming languages and an in-depth understanding of system codes.

What Is a Facility Security Plan?

It’s more than just a document outlining how you’ll keep your building safe. The facility security plan clearly defines a purpose, essential information about the facility, your assets, safety protocols and relevant team members with their roles and responsibilities.

Developing a Plan

First thing’s first — you need to develop a plan to ensure you’re able to secure your facility properly.

The following are some suggestions for developing an all-inclusive security strategy that meets the needs of the facility’s occupants.

Determine Your Needs

Examining potential weak spots is the first step. Understanding your weaknesses and what is most important to you is crucial whether you are working with confidential information or are just concerned about the safety of your staff and guests.

Defining your top concerns can help you develop a comprehensive security strategy for your building. Remember that a well-rounded approach to protecting a site includes physical and cyber measures.

Analyze Your Assets

It might be time to rethink your current systems if you have them in place already.

You can leave yourself vulnerable to assaults if you’re not using the most up-to-date access control technology and your security cameras don’t have all the functions they could. You may be losing out on some of the most acceptable methods to safeguard your building if you’re not up to speed on the latest advances in the business since there are so many radically different security solutions available.

Make sure your existing systems are up to date or replace the ones that no longer meet your security needs.

Implement and Review

When you have a strategy in mind, everyone must understand it. This includes ensuring the proper paperwork is delivered and scheduling installation or maintenance contractors in a manner that doesn’t interfere with regular business. Any new rules or procedures should be shared with staff members well before implementation to minimize disruptions.

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Conclusion

Regardless of where you are in the process of planning the safety of your facility and irrespective of whether you are putting in place a brand-new setup or updating an older one, we strongly suggest that you consult with a security professional.

They will be able to do an in-depth study of your premises and your plans to protect them. They can also provide helpful assistance in selecting the solutions best suited to fulfill your objectives.

How do you ensure facility security? Let us know in the comments below.