Emergency Preparedness: Creating a Comprehensive Security Plan for Your Business
While it's impossible to prevent all emergencies that could happen with your business completely, you can deter many of them by creating a comprehensive security plan. By preparing ahead of time, you can prevent many problems and ensure you're much more ready to face the issues that arise.
As Minnesota's trusted security professionals, the experts at Unparalleled Security want to help you protect your business, including your employees, customers, and assets. In this guide, you'll learn the basics of creating a security plan for your company.
Risk Assessment 101
The first step in creating a comprehensive security plan is determining the risks you'll need to prepare for. Begin by assessing risks. The most common potential risks and their severity level will vary depending on your business type and location.
Still, all companies can do the following two things: identify vulnerabilities and mitigate security risks.
Identifying Vulnerabilities
When assessing risks, you want to make a list of potential vulnerabilities. There are some general issues that all businesses should prepare for, such as:
You should also consider any specific scenarios more likely to affect your business. For example, an office building has fewer vulnerabilities than a factory that makes hazardous materials.
Mitigating Security Risks
Once you determine your company's vulnerabilities and likelihood, you should start planning how to mitigate them. Be sure your company follows regulations regarding weather and other natural disasters.
Then, for issues such as vandalism, theft, and hostile terminations, you should consider ways to respond to these situations. One good idea is to host training seminars and ensure all employees know the emergency protocols.
Remember, your employees might see the property from a different perspective than you, so involve them in the setup process because they might be aware of vulnerable areas or places of concern that you aren’t.
Set Up Security Personnel
Next, your security plan should include setting up the proper security personnel to address potential problems. While some larger corporations deal with some of these matters internally, most companies outsource their security needs to a trusted security company.
When determining the kinds of security you'll need, you'll want to consider a few things, such as:
- Do you need armed or unarmed security guards?
- Should you have security guards patrolling parking lots or garages?
- Will you need to have a security guard on site at all times?
Keep in mind that if someone is casing your business, they will be observing your security guards and memorizing their routines. So, make sure that you change the guards' movements and routes regularly with different strategies to make it confusing for potential thieves or intruders.
At Unparalleled Security, we offer a full range of commercial business security services, including armed guards, parking lot patrols, and much more. We will also assist you in assessing the risks and developing a security plan.
Have a Strategy to Support Incident Responses
Your incident response can make the difference between individuals being wounded or your property staying safe. This process should be collaborative and not done alone. Having a team mentality and knowing how they will respond to incidents can be a powerful resource.
A few questions to ask when you're forming your plan are:
- Who handles the incidents?
- What does reporting and assessment consist of?
- In what ways can you be better prepared for situations?
In addition to hiring professional security guards for on-site protection, strategizing a plan with local authorities can also help mitigate damages. Giving them an outline of your business so they know where the exits and entrances are and your outline for incident response can help you both better work together to be prepared if an emergency occurs.
Contact Us Today to Keep Your Business Protected
Do you have more questions about protecting your business from security threats? Unparalleled Security is here to help. Our team is licensed and fully insured, and we are trained to offer support in any scenario, from office building security to executive protection.
Our team is here to answer any questions or to book your appointment. Call us today at 651-300-1515 or send us a message online, and we will get back to you shortly.