The Budget-Friendly Way to Secure Your Facility
We see it every day – customers spend thousands of dollars on cutting edge security systems designed to keep themselves secure, but regularly neglect one of the most important and least expensive aspects of a solid security site plan: Key Control.
Administrating who carries keys and to which doors is vital to site security. It really is that simple.
Keys are so commonplace that we forget how powerful they are – At many worksites keys passed around without ownership or accountability. This results in missing keys, job delays, and costly security breaches.
A few notable examples:
· Schools!
Missing or lost keys can set an avalanche of costly and panicked reactions – having an efficient key control position can help eliminate both the panic and the lost dollars spent re-keying an entire facility. In the event of a security breach, being able to identify exactly which key is lost, and what areas that key has access to, is valuable information.
Keep in mind, even if every exterior opening is kept secure through electronic access control, typically there are additional closets, drawers, cabinets, carts, etc. that still rely on physical keys to keep assets locked and secure.
For most facilities, the root issue of key control is ineffective management. Clearly establishing the importance and significance of key control is the first and most critical hurdle to overcome. Once you’ve designated a person or department who will maintain your Key Control system, there are three critical elements to keep in mind:
1. Key Administration: Make a log of who carries which keys and which doors those keys open/lock.
2. Key Numbers: Implement a process of stamping or marking keys and doors to uniquely identify them in your records.
3. Written ‘Key Use’ Policy: A formal program that describes how keys are to be checked in/check out and duplicated, usually including a signed agreement of policy awareness and understanding by the key holder.
Don’t forget, once you have the basics nailed down, scDataCom is here to help you select a more sophisticated security solution that will work hand in hand with your Key Control policy to keep your facility safe.