What Is Key Holding Security And Why Do I Need It?
The security of your business is one of your primary responsibilities, and requires robust controls and policies to be in place. The bigger your organisation is, the more important this becomes, not just because you have bigger premises, or more stock or materials to protect, but because you have more people to manage. In a small business, key-holding responsibilities normally fall to the business owner. The business may be a sole trader, but even if there are just three or four employees it is fairly straightforward to allocate security responsibilities and monitor them. In a bigger business, this becomes more challenging.
What is key-holder security?
Every property needs access control and a system designed to protect the business and the people in it. Physical keys are still used in many businesses, but your access control could be a fob, a card, a passcode/passnumber or a biometric system, using face, fingerprint or retina recognition. In the interests of explaining what key-holding responsibilities are, we will assume you are still using physical keys, but all of these types of access control can apply.
Key-holding security should comply with BS 7984-1 and the management, staffing and operation of organisations providing key-holding response services and mobile patrols for businesses.
Key-holding responsibilities can include:
– Distributing keys
– Monitoring and maintaining records of who has keys and when
– Managing the storage of keys
– Having responsibilities for locking and unlocking a property
– Managing access control systems
– Responding to emergencies, security breaches and alarm activations
That’s why key-holding security services are a specialist form of security aimed at minimising the risk of a security breach by taking complete control of key distribution and use for a business.
What are the advantages of using key-holding services?
– Trust – In a larger business you may not be able to trust everyone to have a key and therefore access to the building after hours. It is easy to designate this to a dedicated professional.
– Professional – A professional key-holder knows how to monitor key usage and distribution and knows what to do in emergency situations. Employees who share this responsibility with other tasks in their normal job may not have this specialist knowledge.
– Less Confusion – Having a dedicated person controlling key distribution and having security responsibilities means you always know who is in control of the situation and therefore security is never compromised.
– 24/7 – A key-holding professional will be available 24/7, can deal with false alarms overnight and your service won’t be affected by holidays or absenteeism.
– Technical knowledge – A key-holding professional will be able to deal with false alarm activations and issues with your access control systems. In terms of security they will also be SIA-licenced professionals able to de-escalate problems with intruders or trespassers.
Why do I need key-holding security?
Your business needs to prioritise security and having professional procedures in place not only ensures the safeguarding of your business, but provides a professional image that has benefits both internally and externally to the business. You need key-holding security because:
– It controls and limits who has access to your building
– It professionalises your access control systems
– It provides specialist security for false alarms, emergency activations, overnight security breaches
– It provides 24/7 security cover with one point of contact.
If you are looking for key-holding services which comply with BS 7984-1 then contact Apardion today.
We have nationwide resources who can react quickly to your needs and provide the professional, 24/7 key-holding security you need. We can provide flexible, tailored services which can incorporate access control, key-holding, alarm management and mobile patrols, and we can develop a package which directly suits the needs of your business.
Get in touch with Apardion for professional key-holding services today.
