ARCLIGHT SECURITY

now offers complete surveillance camera packages to enhance their clients ability to protect themselves

their visitors

and

their property

Security Assessments and Site Surveys

By Scott Greisman, Managing Director , ARCLIGHT Security Management Consultants

    Security as a concept involves feelings. Being secure means you feel safe from the potential dangers we face on a day to day basis.  Security in the real world means trading off certain conveniences in exchange for added security, like unobstructed access to your facility, not being subjected to background checks and going through your day without having you movements watched by video surveillance, for stopping at checkpoints, baggage searches, camera surveillance, photo identification cards. Employees and visitors can understand and relax knowing that their facility is taking the steps needed to keep them safe.

    Security professional know that complete security is near impossible and that the security measures taken need to be commensurate with the threat perceived.  For example if your biggest threat is loss of stock through employee theft, than you probably would not accept security measures that make entering the workplace inconvenient but you might accept exit protocols for your employees and cameras in stock rooms. In the same instance if your corporate headquarters represented government or National interests and is a possible target of terrorism, then you would be much more willing to cooperate with your security professional in implementing measures that limit vehicle access to the facility, increased video surveillance, more in depth employee background screenings and an increased security guard presence in addition to protocols for critical incidents 

    Site Surveys and security assessments are the processes we go through when determining the measures to be taken in order to create the secure environment. Windows, doors, lobbies all present unique security problems. Industry standards ensure that technology is available to be employed in many different ways, we use cameras, CCTV, security guards etc. in an effort to control the people and products that enter our working and living spaces.

    Many times Corporate America fails to provide the plans and instructions needed to keep our workplaces safe during a crisis incident. Emergency plans and rehearsals could and should be utilized to prevent injuries and damage during critical incidents. The preservation of life is paramount in any critical incident. Employees and residents should be aware of their facilities security plan and when, how, and where security personnel will be responding.  Through site surveys and security assessments, security consultants should always be looking for the potential hazards a particular location is in danger of encountering. They should provide their clients with comprehensive emergency response plans specifically designed to their facility and develop contingency plans to follow in the event of any changes faced during any critical incident.

    Buildings and facilities such as high rise buildings, corporate parks, educational facilities, training centers and any other structure come in every imaginable design. Site assessments are unique to each individual building and site, each one has different risk variables. Some locations may need to protect themselves from irate customers and clients and some might be targets of organized terrorism. Each threat comes with a new set of variables.

    Experienced security consultants, who provide their clients with real world solutions to real world potential hazards are worth their weight in gold and can be the difference between making a bad situation worse.