Security or Convenience? Get Both with these 4 Steps

               In December of 2013, a student bent on revenge entered Arapahoe High School in Colorado to target the debate team coach. The coach left the school, but the student killed Claire Davis before taking his own life.

               Sadly, the killer used a side door that was supposed to be locked, but was routinely left propped open for convenience.

Propped open doors can be used by all criminals, not just shooters

               Being a student, he would have likely found a way in. However, every obstacle creates an opportunity to disrupt an attack. Forcing the student to use a main entrance could have meant that he would have been seen, as he was carrying a shotgun and machete along with Molotov cocktails: items that were not easily concealed. If an access control system was in place, an alarm may have been instantly triggered if there was forced entry or a door propped open.

               It is concerning that it was apparently a well-known fact that the door in question (and probably others) was routinely allowed to be propped open for sake of the convenience.

               The question or trade-off between security and convenience is not new. Every security professional has faced this dilemma in some form or another. If security measures are not supported, people will find ways to work around the measures.

               To make sure that your security is convenient, follow the guidelines below.

1.      Communicate the reason behind the security measures. Repeat as necessary. It is nearly impossible to over-communicate a message. Recently, I heard a speaker say that a message has to be repeated seven times before it will be remembered. Make sure you can clearly explain changes, the reason for the changes, and, of course, what is in it for the audience (such as to protect employees and keep them safe).

2.     Plan security measures to match business needs. NOTE: business needs and convenience are not the same thing. If business goals are supported and the inconvenience does not impact productivity, then move forward with executive support.

3.     Have a method that identifies any gaps or ways that a security measure is being bypassed. For example, if there are repeated alarms at a given door, review the situation to see if there is a business need to make a change. If not, enforce the policy!

4.     Convenience may sometimes include visitors or customers. An organization has to be able to balance security with a customer-friendly environment. If you have restricted or limited access for visitors or customers, be sure to have the right signage and way finding in place so people will be directed to the right location. A school may lock all doors except for the front. However, there should be clear signage directing visitors to the front entrance if someone happens to park in the wrong area or walks up from a different direction. Make it easy for visitors to follow the security protocols.

               Find the right balance between security and convenience. The two may be at odds on occasion, but with the right approach, you can build support and create a safer environment.              

 

Eric Smith, CPP is the leading authority on organizational self-defense. He has extensive experience in law enforcement as well as security management. Eric is available for staff education and security awareness training as well as business coaching to help organizations provide safe workplaces. To learn more email Eric at businesskarate dot com.

 

 

If you would like to reprint this post, please contact Eric at Eric at businesskarate dot com.

Security Smackdown - Safety versus Dollars

Necessary evil. Cost center. Wasteful expense. This is often how businesses describe security. Security professionals have been working hard to show the return on investment and value that security adds to a business. Forward thinking business leaders do see past some of the old ideas and realize that security is a critical business function, one that supports and helps a business meet goals and objectives, not just an expense.

However, just as security professionals are striving to join their organization's colleagues as a vital business function, there is another setback, this time in the healthcare security arena.

Hospitals have been struggling to stem the tide of violence against their staff members. Anyone working in emergency rooms or dealing with psych patients has been at a much higher risk of being a victim of violence than people in most other industries. Hospitals have been responding through staff training, improved security response, monitoring at-risk patients, using duress alarms and so on as means to protect their staffs as well as patients.

Many hospitals have even used metal detectors. However, the LA Times recently reported that metal detectors were going to be removed from several hospitals and emergency rooms, not because it was a safer environment, but rather due to money! Under the new Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), hospital reimbursement is now impacted by patient surveys and scores. The worry was that some of the measures that enhance security might have a negative impact on the scores and result in less reimbursement. The changes could cost hospitals millions of dollars each year.

In a perfect world, visitors and patients would understand the necessity of security measures, even metal detectors, in urban emergency departments. In reality, they might not grasp the level of violence faced by healthcare workers and almost certainly do not realize the number of combative and dangerous patients encountered daily and the types of weapons often carried by them. Some hospitals have reported that since adding metal detectors, hundreds of weapons have been taken from patients or visitors, including lipstick cases disguising blades, homemade daggers and firearms.

In this showdown between security and profits; facts, risks and crime data will be no match for dollars. The situation makes you wonder what the next steps will be. Some people think even seeing a security officer may be unwelcoming and send the wrong message to patients. How many other hospitals will abandon other crime prevention measures in order to secure more federal reimbursement? Healthcare leaders, and in particular security professionals, need to be on high alert and ready to show the value of various security measures and enhancements. Anything from cameras, to visitor management or visitor check-in, even locked doors causing inconvenience, could be a target if it is seen as contributing to a negative patient score.

In round one of ObamaCare's security versus dollars smackdown, dollars win...at least in LA at those locations removing metal detectors. In the long run, who will be the ultimate winners and losers? Doctors and nurses worried about working in unsafe environments will leave for other hospitals and if the best ones move on, the ultimate losers will be the very patients the hospital wants to appeal to.

Note: This post is not about the value of metal detectors. Rather it is about the risk to any security measure due to government healthcare reimbursements based on patient scores in lieu of objective risk assessments.
 

Eric Smith, CPP is the leading authority on organizational self-defense. He has extensive experience in law enforcement as well as security management. Eric is available for staff education and security awareness training as well as business coaching to help organizations provide safe workplaces. To learn more email eric@businesskarate.com.

 

If you would like to reprint this post, please contact Eric at eric@businesskarate.com. 

 

Friend or Foe & How to Know?

               The woods were as silent as they were dark.  A gentle breeze stirred through the leaves rustling and whispering quietly through the treetops.  A lone figure stood as still as the tree he was leaning against, virtually invisible in the dark.  He was bored and could feel his eyes getting heavy, but struggled to stay alert.  He shifted his weight and looked up at the starry sky above the canopy of leaves.  Based on the movement of the stars, he judged that he had about another hour before being relieved. 

               As he looked, he noticed that the leaves were no longer rustling in the trees and the breeze had stopped, but he could still hear a faint whispering from the woods in front of him.  His grip tightened on the musket in his hands as he tried to peer into the darkness.  Suddenly, he heard a branch snap loudly just yards away.  He knew it was time to act and to warn the other sentries if necessary.  The musket swung in the direction of the sound and he stepped behind the tree for protection and shouted out, “Who goes there?  Friend or foe?” 

               For a moment, the silence hung in the darkness, then a voice cried out, “Friend.  I’m a courier from General MacAllister with a message for General Winters.”  The sentry called him forward and then escorted him back to the picket line and ultimately to the fort to deliver his message.

               In high school history classes, we learned about stories of sentries calling out simply, “Hark!  Who goes there?”  I’ve often wondered how honest the replies were.  After all, it is a war and answering friend while really a foe seemed an obvious tactic.  Perhaps it was a more civilized time and one where even enemies had more honor.  Although I do recall one history lesson about the attack on Quebec during the French and Indian War when a sentry called out the challenge and the attacking British or American force answered back deceptively in French and ultimately won the decisive battle.

               Somehow, in our modern society it seems much harder to know who is friend or foe.  For most businesses, there is (hopefully) a steady flow of customers or visitors.  But along with those we want in our businesses, there are those trying to steal or harm.  Retail outlets and shoplifters are the obvious example.  There are other reasons for keeping out unwanted individuals or groups, such as loss of proprietary information.  You can bet that KFC does not let just anyone into the room with the list of 11 secret herbs and spices!

               So what is the modern equivalent?  There are no more sentries standing guard, per se.  The key is in access control – limiting who has the right of entry.  It is one of the basic principles of a security plan, one each of us employs every day.  When you leave your house, do you lock your doors and windows?  Most burglaries occur through unlocked, open doors, or windows.  By taking the simple precaution of locking doors, you are limiting access to unwanted persons. 

               For both homeowners and organizations, other tools can be used to help with access control.  Deadbolts, strike plates and alarms are examples.  Larger businesses with more employees may use card access and ID badges to limit access to authorized individuals and can better control who has access to what areas and also create an audit trail to see what doors someone entered.

               So far, each of these methods restricts entry to those who have been authorized or who have permission.  The last element is to decide who will have that right of entry.  This is something that starts at right at the application process for a new employee.  The screening of potential employees and ultimately checking work history, references and experience helps business make sure that they are bringing the right people into the fold. 

               The trickier part is granting access to non-employees.  Depending on your organization, this may be a very critical part of the security process.  The U.S. Secret Service routinely does this.  Whenever the President attends an event or holds a speech, the attendees have to go through a screening process.  For more intimate events that could include a background check.  Often, it is a matter of screening what is being brought to the event; i.e., metal detectors to restrict the access of weapons. 

               Even airport security is based on tight access control principles.  Only passengers who have bought tickets and who have passed through metal detectors are allowed into the terminals.  Names of fliers are checked against the no-fly list to restrict known terror suspects from accessing the airlines.

               Most places will not have that high of a level of access control.  The next option is to then develop a means to clearly identify who should be there from who should not be.  Issuing visitor passes or badges to non-employees helps identify who has been “screened” from someone who has bypassed or curtailed your screening.  A visitor management program allows you to deny access to someone who has been a problem in the past and to record who is coming in, as well as the visible badge worn shows to all that they have been ‘approved.’ 

               Every business is different and how you build an access control for your business will be based on your circumstances.  What is the level of security that you need?  Is it based on the market place (proprietary info that needs protection)?  Or, it could be based on compliance issues, such as Sarbanes-Oxley or The Joint Commission for healthcare.  More often, it will be the level of security expected in your industry or in your neighborhood.  A retail store will have a very different level of access control than a defense contractor.

               There are four key parts to building an access control plan for your situation.

1.      Limit entry to clearly identified points or doors.  The front door of a store could be open to the public, while the back stock room door is kept locked.  This directs your flow to the areas that you have determined as appropriate.

2.     Use the right equipment, such as locks, alarms or card readers to keep out unauthorized persons.

3.     Identify the ‘good’ guys from the bad.  Employee ID cards, visitor passes, background checks, metal detectors combined with security personnel are ways to screen who is entering your facility.

4.     Enforce your process.  If you issue visitor passes and someone refuses to wear the pass, do you let them in?  The lack of consistency will ultimately undermine the best of security processes.

Following these basic steps and adjusting them to your specific needs will be the first and perhaps the most important part of your security plan.  Then you will really be on your way to knowing who is a friend and who is a foe.

For more information on access control and visitor management, read the special report, “Healthy Access to Healthcare: Visitor Management for Hospitals” based on a case study where visitor management was successfully implemented in an extremely tough setting – a hospital.  The report is available on Amazon.com – just click here to learn more.