Warehouses often store goods that will be distributed at a later date. This means they hold a large amount of goods which, unfortunately, are often targeted for both theft and vandalism. However, knowing the right security measures you need to take can prevent this from happening and therefore keep your warehouse safe.
In this article, we will look at what security measures should be taken as well as the difference between internal and external measures.
Why You Need Safety And Security Measures For A Warehouse?
There are many actions that should be taken to protect your business, warehouse security services work to deter both theft and vandalism by implementing trusted security services.
These measures are a must for your warehouse due to multiple reasons such as:
- Protection of Your Property
- Employee Safety
- Injury Prevention
- Theft Prevention
- To Gain A Competitive Advantage
Warehouse companies generally rely on their stock to earn money and keep the business flowing, any disruption to this process can have major stepbacks.
The Centre for Retail Research Crime Report shows that employee theft alone was responsible for 22% of the retail shrinkage back in 2019.
However, this report also details that 18% of this shrinkage came from crimes that targeted both suppliers and warehouses.
This means there is a rise in warehouse crime, and it is now highly important to ensure your business is secure.
What Are Internal Security Measures?
Internal security measures are procedures taken to prevent acts of crime from being committed or aided by members of staff. Last year there were 5.16 thousand employee offences reported in England and Wales alone. These crimes are usually very serious as there has been a breach of contract as well as trust within the company.
Examples of this include The Mulsanne Partnership Investigation where an employee of the company had stolen a grand total of £24,715.39 through fraudulent transactions.
We have listed five different ways to prevent this type of crime from being committed in your company:
1. Back-Up Data
It is essential to consistently back up any important data in relation to your business. This way you are always able to recover any lost data.
2. Train Your Employees
Training your employees on how to spot potential cyber threats is super important. There are many online threats such as emails or links that are constantly being sent out to trick someone into giving important information, such as bank details or passwords. By making staff aware of this, they can avoid falling for any potential threats and can report anything that looks suspicious.
3. Implement Management Policies
Job roles such as administrators and business managers usually have the most access to important and valuable information. This creates opportunities to use this information to their advantage, therefore committing a crime. This can be controlled by having staff within these job roles sign an agreement on what they can and cannot use company information for.
4. Review Passwords
Strong and unique passwords are essential, but even the best possible password can be cracked by those with criminal intentions. By changing your password on a regular basis, you will be less likely to experience any forms of hacking. These passwords should include a range of both numbers and letters in upper and smaller cases to make them as difficult as possible to crack.
5. Employee Termination Policy
It’s not always current employees who are looking to steal, but past employees may also try their luck. An employee termination policy is an extra layer of security that states that all past employees must close their accounts and remove any data they have stored in regard to the company.
What Are External Security Measures?
External security measures are procedures taken to prevent the most common types of crimes and security risks such as robbery, vandalism, burglary, and arson.
One example of this includes the Securitas Depot Robbery, which consisted of a criminal gang stealing more than £53 million, making it the biggest cash robbery in British history.
1. Security Guards
Warehouse security guards are a great way of protecting your property for long periods of time. Highly trained with an SIA licence, guards have all the knowledge on how to keep your premises safe and know how to respond to any security threats.
2. Security Cameras
Security cameras are a great deterrent from crime, potentially stopping criminals from even attempting to commit one. They will record all activity that takes place in your absence and provide evidence to share with the police if necessary.
3. Alarm System
Fitting alarms in your warehouse is also a good security measure. This way, if there was an attempt of burglary at your warehouse, those in the area would immediately be notified by the alarm and can act accordingly.
4. Lighting
Simply having lights turned on both in and around your warehouse can deter criminals. This is because having lights on means there is a possibility that there are people present within the building which means the criminal would be taking the risk of getting caught.
5. Sign-In Procedure
Implementing a sign-in procedure is a great way of identifying who was on-site and at what times. This allows you to ask questions to anyone who was around when the crime occurred and possibly collect witness statements and other relevant information.
Final Thoughts
It is vital that you weigh out the risks to your warehouse and pick the right security services, after all, criminals are much more likely to target an empty warehouse compared to one that is protected by security.
We hope this article has taught you the different kinds of security measures that should be taken, if you can think of any others then let us know in the comments! To keep updated with all the latest warehouse news, check out our blog where you can find articles about warehouse safety tips and what are the top 10 security risks to warehouses.
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