Risk can be defined as the probability (potentiality) of a certain level of damage, taking into account exposure to a risk factor and the probability of damage occurring during the exposure period. Risk assessment is a necessary tool for ensuring the safety and protecting the health of workers. It must be structured and implemented in such a way as to help employers to determine what hazards exist and evaluate the risks associated with these hazards in order to decide which measures to adopt to protect the health and guarantee the safety of their employees.
Risk Factors
Sometimes risks are linked to the context in which security activity is carried out. Other risks mainly occur due to interference. Those risks are inherent in the activity of each company and they are due to the installations, equipment, and activities of various companies in the same workplace. When workers from different companies are involved in the same working environment, working relationships become more complex and may complicate the coordination of activities. This may result in disorganization, with everything this entails in terms of accidents and confusion concerning the tasks to be executed, etc. In these kinds of circumstances, efforts must therefore be made at the company level in order to share information and to reach an agreement on respective duties and responsibilities. Other risk factors may include physical aggression, sexual harassment, bullying, natural disasters, theft, and robberies, etc.
Identifying Security Risk
Security risk assessment helps security companies to assess and implement key security controls to overcome security loopholes and vulnerabilities. Each business and location has a different level of risk based on the crime rate in the neighborhood, footfall at your facility, etc. Security measures need to be scaled up or down based on the likelihood of risks and threats the business is facing. It is important to identify vulnerabilities in the facility or premises relating to entry and exit points, maintenance of door locks and windows, and entry of unneeded personnel in secure areas. After reviewing the vulnerability of your building, you should evaluate the operating procedures that are in place. This includes having security personnel positioned at your entrances and exits, setting procedures to ensure that secure material in your premises is not accessible for everyone, ensuring there are no camera blind spots, developing emergency plans, and establishing procedures or handling situations like robbery and bomb threat.
Benefits of Security Risk Assessment
Security Risk Assessment helps in predicting security problems the company might face. Identifying these risks preemptively helps in addressing them accordingly by establishing ways to improve security. Following are the few most sought benefits of security assessment.
Prevention of Breaches
Mitigation is one way of decreasing the risk itself and thereby the need for security response. It also decreases the potential of negative impact where a security response is necessary. The need for higher- level response can be decreased by making threatening or illegal behavior difficult and less appealing. This can be achieved by erecting higher fences and increasing the visual presence of your security.
Improvement of Current System
Security risk assessment helps you identify your problem areas and weaknesses and consequently establishes a more effective security system that will cover more ground and keep your valuables secure. It helps in designing custom solutions for every single threat company is facing. Few examples could be mitigating a threat to remote locations by improving your surveillance spots to monitor remote locations and/or installing biometrics for strengthening access control.
Smart Spending
Security risks assessment helps companies to understand financial losses businesses might incur because of potential exploitation of weak security. It also helps in calculating the costs involved in security improvements and resulting long-term financial benefits.
Budget Allocation
The risk assessment provides valuable help in developing new security plans and policies. This can help businesses budget for security and allocate resources appropriately. It also prevents businesses from overspending on a problem that does not require an expensive solution.
Employee Education and Motivation
Another added benefit of risk assessment is increased employee understanding of security risks and measures. This increased knowledge will help employees in following security policies and best practices outlined by the company. Employees will also learn to avoid risks and recognize suspicious events. The sense of being taken care of will further increase employee motivation and productivity.
Conclusion
Taking help from security companies to work with your staff in identifying threats and weaknesses in your security measures will result in a more effective system to keep your premises secure. In a high-risk context, the security risk assessment must be detailed and methodically challenging. Hiring an external security expert enables businesses a capacity to implement risk mitigation strategies. Your security professional must have sufficient experience, expertise, and access to people and information within the company. The security team with the skills to identify and analyze the range of risks, and relating responses, to your company’s premises, assets, surrounding communities, and company’s reputation is the guarantee of a safe and secure workplace.
If you need an experienced and professional security company with a resource pool of trained and reliable security guards contact Syndicate Alpha today for efficient and reliable manned guarding services. Having served security services to a variety of businesses and institutions, Syndicate Alpha is a security company in London that offers fully integrated, custom security solutions along with security risk assessment and evaluation by our highly proficient security experts.