If you’re the owner of a commercial property, whether that’s a business or a block of flats, you need to make sure your security is airtight. If you fail to ensure the security of the property, you’ll no doubt encounter some problems in the near future. You could have all kinds of lawsuits on your hands if you’re not careful.
Ignore these security steps for commercial properties at your own peril!
Undertaking A Risk Assessment
One of the first things you should do to any commercial property you own, is identify weak points. Regular assessments should take place so you can ensure that you’re not missing anything crucial in your building and letting intruders right in. Having a qualified risk assessor come in and take care of this for you will save you time and could potentially help you to spot a costly mistake. Make sure you do your research on the best companies to do this for you, taking experience into account. Spend what you can afford and you’ll get a much better, more accurate service.
Strengthen Your Entry Points
Take a look at your entry points and then strengthen them however you can. There are usually several ways of entering a commercial property, so ensure you look at all possible ways and go from there. You should have solid doors and windows, as well as high quality locks approved for commercial use. Not only will this help to stop people from breaking in, it will give you peace of mind. You may want to select a special type of glass to help you deter break ins too.
Secure The Perimeter
Make sure you don’t just focus on your building. You need to focus on securing the perimeter too. This can seriously deter thieves and intruders when they see what you have in place. Having strong fencing in place will help, and many commercial business owners like to have this made from a sturdy wire mesh. You can go to BankerWire.com to find out more about this particular material.
Security lighting is a must too, as most burglaries take place in the evening or at night time. The type of lighting you select can depend on how high you deem your risk to be, and the systems you may already have in place. In general, the lighter the perimeter of your building, the less likely somebody is to attempt to break in.
A secure car park will stop people from entering when they shouldn’t be, and it will make your staff and visitors feel much safer too. Just be sure you don’t put off clients and customers with the way this looks – it’s a business, not a prison!
Install Appropriate Alarms and CCTV
Appropriate alarms and CCTV should be compulsory if you want to protect your commercial property. CCTV is an absolute must, as this is a strong deterrent. Even false CCTV can be a strong deterrent as many criminals won’t want to take a risk, however, you will want to be able to identify the culprit if something actually takes place. Make sure you change codes to your alarm systems on a regular basis too.
Know Your Staff And Visitors
Make an effort to know your staff and visitors and encourage team building within your company. This will make it far more noticeable when an unfamiliar face pops up. Background checks are a good idea, and help to reassure you that your team is trustworthy. However, you need to keep your wits about you and bear in mind that just because you haven’t spotted any trouble with your employees on their records, doesn’t mean it’s out of the question. Trusting your staff is crucial, but being too trusting and open with everybody is a mistake.
Having visitor sign ins should also help you to keep out those who shouldn’t be there. If you can have a manned reception with somebody signing in visitors, you can rest assured that your building will be far safer.
Safeguard Crucial Equipment
If you have equipment that is essential for your business, not to mention expensive, you should keep this in a secure location out of sight. Fit your computers with alarms to detect tampering, so that you know if somebody has tried to access information too. You can also potentially fit locks to your
Make Your Security Obvious
Don’t keep your security a secret. It isn’t a game! Security is a deterrent, so put up signs and make it obvious that your property is protected. This will ensure that anybody who considers breaking the law thinks twice about it.
Put Your Cash In A Safe
Don’t keep your cash in an unsecure location in your building. This is just asking for trouble. Put your cash in a safe instead. Better yet, keep it in a safe far away from the building altogether! You can get signs that indicate that no cash is kept in the building too.
Regular Maintenance Checks
Do regular maintenance checks on your building, and make repairs quickly if you need to. If you leave a broken window or gap in the fence for too long, it could very well mean more problems for you in the near future. You really don’t want to take those risks, so make sure you prioritize and don’t put these things on the back burner.
It’s also a good idea to keep in touch with local companies to find out about their security breaches too. Building relationships with other companies means you can both report back to one another with anything that has gone on, and be more prepared for something happening in the future. Take a look for business watch schemes in your area and you can rest assured that your building is twice as protected.
So, are you going to take on board what these steps say? If you don’t, you will likely wish you had in the future. Leave any of your own tips, thoughts, or comments below. Come back soon!