For all organizations preparing to reopen, the question on how security will handle the resurgence of visitors and staff is one of the latest challenges. As a physical security contractor, the reopening of businesses, schools, and public spaces will have your potential clients wondering how to best facilitate safety without hampering the visitor experience.
As employees concern themselves with returning to the workforce, those in charge of balancing an organization’s safety and security are also balancing their security programs while reevaluating their risk management, or ESRM, plans. This is where security firms can leverage their expertise to help organizations prioritize safety and security through seamless training and communication.
In this article, we’ll discuss how security firms are stressing the importance of more stringent visitor management processes, and the two main areas that will help to create a safer and more secure visitor management operation.
The Pandemic Uncovered a Need For Better Visitor Management Processes
Physical security firms can demonstrate their unique qualifications at overseeing security processes, monitoring and responding to security events, screening visitors, guarding entrances, conducting extensive security checks, and more. Recent reports suggest that 75% of organizations stated that the pandemic prioritized the emphasis on physical security.
The events of 2020 demonstrated that, when a majority of the world was working remotely, and facilities were understaffed, security became a major concern. In a normal world, unexpected visitors could be admitted simply by “calling up” to authorize them. But when there is no one there to call up to, then how can security effectively manage unplanned visitation?
As a result, both the security firms and their clients needed to adapt to a new way of managing security and safety within their business. There are two things companies are doing to mitigate security and safety risk in visitor management processes.
1. Augment Visitor Management With Safety Processes
Despite state reopenings and relaxation of strict mask and health guidelines, a majority of organizations will keep to these guidelines as part of their risk management prevention measures.
When managing visitors like maintenance personnel, third-party food vendors, and employees that hold a badge, it’ll be critical that security guards know how to ensure high touch areas, social distancing, and other preventative health measures, as defined by the CDC or state regulations, are adhered to.
Security is often the first person any visitor will see when they arrive, so the ability for security to ensure visitors are entering a safe and sanitary place is important. It is equally important that security become enforcement of health and safety protocols equally as much as security protocols. Doing so will mitigate any risk of visitors violating any safety rules their clients have put in place.
2. Ensure Real-Time Information Through Visitor Management Software Solutions
In a recent study, 82% of corporate security professionals said that they have already implemented or plan to implement a visitor management solution for their operation. With many facilities focusing more on how to get information to their teams while remote, the ability to send over visitor manifests, delivery schedules, and visitor logbooks in real time to the security team on the frontline has become a key risk mitigation strategy.
Visitor management software solutions reduced any potential hazards of unplanned visitors being admitted without authorization and enable supervisors to see who is in the buildings at all times. This connection from the front lines to the command center provides a better view into identifying potential risks, ensuring that only authorize people are admitted, and helps to improve the communication between the security firm and their clients.
Risk Mitigation Beyond Visitor Management
These two steps security firms are taking to mitigate risk in visitor management are just one component of a larger risk management strategy for security. In a recent study, 88% of corporate security professionals plan to conduct regular risk assessments and audits during this year. This means assessing the entire security operation, looking for potential ways to identify, mitigate and prevent risk. In order to learn from the challenges of 2020, security will need to look for ways to improve how their people, processes and technology are designed to help reduce risk.
