Running a warehouse comes with many different responsibilities and concerns, as warehouses cover a large amount of space they may come with many security risks.
You need to properly be prepared against criminals in order to prevent expensive problems for your business. But where do you start? In this article, we provide the top 10 security risks to warehouses and suggest how you can prevent these risks from affecting your business.
What Are Warehouse Security Risks?
Warehouse security issues and risks that often threaten the safety of a warehouse. Some of the most common warehouse security threats are theft, vandalism, and break-ins. Below, we have listed the top 10 warehouse security issues and explained why they are threatening your business.
Break-Ins
One of the main risks of warehouses is break-ins to your property. Break-ins can occur when your warehouse is not properly secure, and there are weaknesses in your infrastructure. If someone can break into your property, your stock is not secure and any staff on-site are in danger.
Vandalism
While vandalism may seem like a small crime, it can have a detrimental impact on a business and cost business owners a lot of money. Vandalism such as graffiti for example can be costly to remove and can damage the image of your business. The fact that someone would be able to get close enough to your warehouse to vandalise it, is also of great concern.
Fires
One of the most devastating incidents that can happen to your warehouse is a fire. Fires can be incredibly destructive, destroying any stock held in your warehouse, the warehouse itself, and can put any staff members in danger. Whether fires are due to an accident or are intentionally set off by arsonists, they can destroy your business very quickly.
Internal Theft
Internal theft, often known as employee theft can lead to a distrust in staff members and a drop in your profits. It is important to ensure that staff members can be trusted so that your stock is secure.
External Theft
External theft would involve a criminal breaking and entering your property and stealing what you hold in your warehouse. This is extremely concerning as it shows that your warehouse is not secure and can lead to your business losing a lot of money.
Employee Safety
If you have employees working in your warehouse, it is important to ensure that they are kept safe and that they feel protected. This means that your building should be secure and only accessible to staff members. If your warehouse can be easily broken into or vandalised, it can lead to staff members feeling vulnerable.
Health And Safety
Warehouses often hold large pieces of equipment such as forklifts which if used incorrectly can impact health and safety. Even if all safety precautions are followed, accidents can still happen that can lead to your employees being injured.
Flooding
Another significant security risk to your business and your warehouse is flooding. This is because it can damage any stock you are holding, and the infrastructure itself which can be very costly. Flooding can occur due to poor weather or issues with plumbing.
Access Issues
It is important to consider who can access your warehouse and business, and how. Your business should be secure at all times and employees who are allowed to access it should be given key cards or codes to enter the building to make sure that no one unauthorised can enter. Unauthorised access to your site can be very risky.
Lack Of CCTV
One final danger to your warehouse and your business is a lack of CCTV. CCTV not only provides protection for your employees but can be used as evidence against any criminals who may try and infiltrate your warehouse. CCTV can often be a deterrent for many criminals.
How Can Risks Be Prevented In A Warehouse?
While not every warehouse will experience all the dangers listed above, it is important to try and reduce the likelihood of any of these happening. One great way to protect your business is having good warehouse security and by using a security company.
Security companies can offer advice on how to keep your warehouse safe and secure and can evaluate your current security procedures. They can also provide CCTV that can be monitored 24/7 which will allow you to identify issues with intruders and criminals, but also any issues with flooding or fires. This means that any incidents can be responded to quickly to limit how damaging they are.
Security companies can also provide security guards that can respond to any issues identified on CCTV or can patrol your warehouse in person at regular intervals. Security guards will not only deter criminals, but they can also keep an eye out for other issues that your warehouse may face. In terms of safety, security guards are also trained in basic first aid and CPR, meaning that they can provide further assistance to your employees as a result of criminal acts or accidents in the workplace.
To keep up to date with the latest warehouse news, head over to our news page where you can find more articles about warehouse security such as what security measures should be taken in a warehouse and how you can secure inventory within a warehouse.
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