Dakota Murphey provides an overarching look at some of the challenges facing security and facilities teams when organisations move towards hybrid or remote working patterns.
Since 2020, the working world is a very different place. Hybrid and remote working patterns are increasingly common, with 24% of workers now switching between working at home and the office. While these are great for the individual, they can pose new challenges for companies and building management teams.
Some properties are left vacant due to an insufficient level of staff coming in that day, or partly vacant as certain departments opt to work remotely. This can leave a building’s security vulnerable as there are fewer people around to spot and intercept any potential trespassers.
Staff aren’t generally employed to act as security, of course, but they often indirectly do, particularly as a visible deterrent against opportunist trespassers. But, what exactly are the overarching security risks facing businesses that follow modern working patterns? Let’s take a closer look.
As we touched upon already, some companies can have significant portions of their workforce at home on any given workday. With a lower occupancy level, the risk of outsiders interfering increases. There may be days when the workplace is completely empty, for example, a company policy that allows everyone to work from home on a Friday.
Naturally, this poses a security risk and companies must consider and coordinate their hybrid and remote workers to address this. That may be ensuring that one person from each department comes in every day or there are designated employees who will periodically take a walk around the premises. Companies may also wish to downsize their premises to ensure there are fewer blind spots, while also reducing their overall costs.
While there are fewer regular staff in the office, business must continue as normal and the need for meetings hasn’t disappeared. Many can be done virtually thanks to video conferencing, but a good old fashioned face-to-face meeting isn’t completely dead in the water.
Site maintenance is also continuing, from regular visits by contractors to cleaners and sanitary operatives, there are still plenty of comings and goings. As such, companies must ensure they have a robust access control system to ensure that visitors are authorised and scheduled. Unfamiliarity can be an easy way for someone to wander around a building or site unsupervised, so companies must work to improve their access control.
Modern security methods can help counter this threat in several ways
Tools like these can verify identification upon arrival, track a visitor’s movement through the building and provide a report that can be consulted and referred to at a later date.
The idea of turning their company building into Fort Knox might not sit well with many owners but there are ways to protect properties that no longer are at full capacity. While some vacant property protection methods might seem like overkill, such as boarding up windows, there are some practices which work well for a partially-occupied building. CCTV systems help deter intruders as well as prevent theft and vandalism, while smart lighting with a timer can make a property appear to be occupied.
Keeping close control over who has access to keys, ensuring that they are issued to trusted employees and those who strictly need a set reduces the risk further. Making sure that any staff who leave the company return their set of keys, or changing the locks if they cannot or have left in difficult circumstances, is another prudent measure.
Going a step further, electronic access control systems can be implemented to reduce the requirement for physical keys. Using mobile phones, or QR codes to access facilities have become more popular methods of access management over recent years, while access cards linked to a centralised management platform solution can ensure that credentials can be issued and revoked easily by security and facilities departments.
Evidence suggests that companies employing a hybrid working system can save money on their energy bill and operational costs by having fewer employees at work at the same time. But, what companies save in energy consumption they must allocate (partly) towards increasing their security.
From more regular perimeter checks to upgraded security systems such as CCTV and remote access controls, the costs can quickly add up. There is also the added pressure on a company’s cyber security system when remote working is involved.
To work remotely, cloud-based systems must be adopted to ensure employees have access to relevant information to do their jobs. This can be costly, particularly where a completely bespoke system and software are required. Setting these remote networks up is essential but they must also be robustly protected to secure company data.
Training costs will increase as staff need to be educated in good cyber security practices, while time and funds must be used to create a new policy and strategy to keep everything safe and legal. This will typically involve recruiting or partnering with a third-party cyber security company to take control and shore up any weaknesses in a network.
Company security encompasses several different aspects, from protecting people, property and equipment to fire security, access control and employee health. Besides physical and cyber security measures, companies must also consider the logistics of coordinating their responsible people in a hybrid working environment.
Health and safety risks remain in the office, while risk assessments must also be completed for staff working at home. Fire marshals must be accounted for and their responsibilities remain despite the reduced capacity.
Greater control and consideration for where staff are is essential to ensure that companies meet their legal requirements and honour their duty of care towards employees. Coordinating among team members to ensure essential staff are always around will be critical and may involve training more employees in these areas to allow for better flexibility.
Those with more safety and security responsibilities should be on-site more frequently or their duties spread across more people. And, with buildings getting smarter all of the time, the infrastructure around them must follow suit.
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