Security Failures

Is this what your security systems look like? Failure to maintain security can be described as negligent security among other things.

Security Priority

Over time businesses tend to place their priorities in areas that boost their sales. During times of slow sales their focus is often on how to turn that around, and when doing so they may often forgo some basic preventive maintenance so as to focus solely on increasing their revenue stream. While the goal of increasing revenue is normal, the failure to maintain your facilities, including security systems, can in fact be a direct or indirect cause of loss of business.

Just like your business sign, storefront, and numerous other factors, the upkeep of your facility is important. First impressions can mean the difference of someone entering your business, as well as someone driving right on by.

Security Lighting

Lighting is a very important part of your security, regardless if your business is open during hours of darkness or not. It is very true that criminals prefer to operate in the darkness for obvious reasons, concealment being the primary reason.

There are lighting standards that businesses need to follow, and in many cases if you are planning to open a new business your local Zoning, Planning, or Building department may impose strict rules that you must adhere to.

Security Locks

Locks are defined as a device that keeps something such as a door or drawer secured, usually needing a key to open it. Locks are used in all businesses and homes throughout our world, and for the most part they can be very effective in keeping honest people out. Locks are not a fail-safe.

So if your intent is to demonstrate that you have secured something that you have placed importance on, wouldn’t you want to use a lock that can do the job?

Security Fence

Fencing is very common throughout the world and it is either trying to keep something contained, or it is trying to protect something. If that is often the case, you would think that the quality of such a barrier is comparable to what its intent is, right?

You could also assume that the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of such a security measure would be an ongoing priority as well. However, that assumption is often not the case. What does a fence like this indicate to you? Most people would look at this fence and likely believe that security is not a priority. Or they might ponder the question as to why did you spend the tens of thousands of dollars to fence in your facility and yet you did not do anything to maintain that level of security.

Security Perception

It really comes down to the fact that most people form their opinions regarding their personal safety based on their environment. Basically, they observe their surroundings and make a decision from there as to whether or not they feel safe or unsafe. What is often the case is that they do so subconsciously and often in a matter of seconds.

If that is the case, as they approach your business and see that it is not secure, or not maintained, you may in fact be the cause of your loss of business.

So what can and should you do? First, understand that you have likely become somewhat numb to the condition of your property. By that I am referring to the fact that if we are so used to seeing things every day and often several times each day, we will likely become complacent and ignore those issues overtime. Not always intentional, many times our intent is to correct the security concerns, but other more urgent matters get in the way and over a period of time we often forget.

If you do not consider security as a critical business function then you’re likely on a fast track to serious security breach sometime in the future. With such often comes a civil suit for security negligence or other similar causation and with that often comes security experts that will be retained to review your security measures, or lack thereof. Do not wait for something bad to happen to get onboard with your security upgrades, because at that point it is too late.

If you have never had a security risk assessment conducted by an unbiased and independent security professional, now is probably the time to do so. Just because nothing bad has happened yet, does not mean that you are immune from a negligence claim.

It is safer and less costly to prevent an incident then it is to act in response to one. ®