Locking Down Your Business

09 Dec Locking Down Your Business

October is National Crime Prevention Month, so it’s a great time to think about securing your business against thieves and other forms of crime. At any given moment, your business could be exposed to crime through your customers, cyber criminals or even your own employees.

As a result, you should think about some general best practices for deterring crime in the workplace:

• Install and maintain a security system in your business that includes cameras, motion sensors and electronic locks. Additionally, you should ensure that only trusted employees or managers have access to the system. Once you have a security system in place, display signs so employees and customers know they are being monitored.
• Check all entrances and exits to your business to see if they can be easily accessed. Locations such as side windows and back doors should be locked at all times if they can’t be monitored regularly.
• Place signs around your business that indicate where employees and customers can and cannot go.
• Make sure that an employee is always positioned to see customers who enter and exit your business. Not only will this help deter would-be thieves, but it can also help you to address customers as soon as they enter the premises.
• Keep a careful inventory of your business that is performed by multiple employees. If you notice irregularities with your inventory, that may be a sign that someone is stealing from you.
• Draft an employee theft policy and review it with your employees. You should also treat your employees with respect and never assume that one of them is stealing from you unless you have evidence. If you do suspect that an employee is stealing from you, move him or her to another shift to see if the behavior continues.
• If your business operates a retail location, consider placing radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on your products.
• Consider placing expensive products in a safe while your business is closed.