This Is How to Create a Safe & Secure Retail Environment for Your Employees
Responsible employers will want to make sure that all their employees feel safe and secure during work, as well as when they arrive and leave. Anything less could easily lead to low morale and wellbeing which is bad for employees and can have a serious impact on your business. With that in mind, why not browse the suggestions below on how to create a more safe and secure environment in your organization, both for the people who work there, and those that visit like customers?
Light Your Carpark
First of all, one of the scariest places for retail employees can be the carpark, especially if they work unsocial shifts and have to exit and enter it in the dark. That is why if you want your employees to feel safe at work you need to light your car parking space.
One way to do this is to install overhead lighting in covered car parks. Floodlights can be used in outdoor car parking areas as long as they are weatherproof and connected in line with safety regulations.
You may even want to add an extra layer of security by employing an attendant to work. They will then be able to control who enters and exits and will be on hand if anyone needs assistance.
Install CCTV At Entrances And Exits
CCTV is another very important measure that can help to make you feel safe and secure in the workplace. There are several important areas in which it’s prudent to install CCTV. The first of these is the above-mentioned car park. Indeed, they will act as a deterrent in this location, meaning that incidents are much less likely to happen.
The next two places where it’s important to install CCTV are the entrances and exits of your building and property, as well as facing your cash registers. Having CCTV in these locations will help you keep a much better track of who is coming in and out. This means you will easily be able to identify anyone who should not be on-site, as well as track their location.
Employ Security Guards
You can further add to your safe work environment by employing security guards. The great thing about professional guards is that they can perform several functions including controlling entry and exits of specific buildings, rooms, or locations. They can also do patrols of your property, intervene with shoplifters and liaise with the police telling them all the information they need to know quickly and efficiently.
Again just like CCTV, the use of security guards can help discourage anyone with nefarious intentions, because it makes it less likely that they will get away without being challenged or identified. This will help not only boost your business reputation as a safe place to work but ensure you retain the best retail employees over time as well.
Install A Swipe Card System
A swipe card system at the entry of your building is also a great way of improving security for retail employees. This system requires everyone who needs to gain entry to your premises to have a magnetic card which they swipe through a reader before they can enter.
One of the big benefits of a swipe card system is that you can quickly revoke entry permissions if there is a problem or incident. Additionally, it’s very fast and effective to take away entry privileges from someone who has left, meaning you can decrease the likelihood of unauthorized behaviour by disgruntled ex-employees that could put your employees and business in danger.
Some businesses even go even more high-tech with their entry systems and install biometrics. Biometrics are systems that take a reading from the employee’s physical characteristics to allow entry. Common biometric entries include thumb and fingerprints, face scans, and retina scans.
Make Visitors Sign In
One of the more simple tactics you can use to increase safety for your employees is to institute a sign-in system for visitors. Back in the day, this used to be something as simple as writing their name and their registration number in the sign in a book, but things have progressed a bit since then.
Of course, we are not talking about sign-ins for customers, but for business visitors like workmen, inspectors and the like. The good news is that now, it’s possible to take ID photos digitally in an instant, and then print a temporary visitor card that they can pin to their clothes. It can even include a QR code that lets them sign into certain areas.
Make Sure The Perimeter Of The Site Is Secure
The perimeter or outside edge of your company property is another area that you will need to secure for your employees to feel safe. After all, no one wants to be busily going about their job around your site, only to be interrupted or threatened by an intruder, especially after hours during stock takes.
One of the best options for this is to install high-grade security fencing around your business’s perimeter, and security gates at entry and exits. Security gates in particular send a very clear message that it will not be easy to enter your property without permission. They also can help keep members of the public and employees safe as they can be used to keep them out of dangerous areas, and even be used to help regulate traffic flow.
Install One-Way Glass Film
No one likes the idea that they are being watched, yet many businesses happily let employees work next to unprotected windows, where not only the employee but any tech they are using such as payment terminals may be easily seen.
That is why it is a good idea to cover any windows in your buildings with one-way film. This will not only allow your employees to look out, without being observed from the outside but can also help reduce glare and heat in the summer.
Assign Security Levels
Last of all, you can keep your employees and your business safe by issuing different security levels. What this means is that not everyone in your business will have access to every area. This can be very helpful because it will help you limit the people who enter and exit the most secure areas easily. This means anyone who does not need to be put at risk in high-risk zones is kept out, increasing safety.
Security levels can also work very well for cyber security, and in preventing data breaches in your business. The theory is the same in that only those who have permission can access things with the highest security level, reducing risk.
