Safety & Security – Page 11 – Open Sourced Workplace

If you want a productive and efficient workplace environment, workplace safety should be the most important thing to take care of. No matter the type of the business you do, workplace safety should be a priority for everyone. The more safety you bring to your workplace, the fewer expenses you will have, your business will have a bigger profit, and your employees will be less stressed out. What does it take to have a safe workplace environment and how important it really is? Continue reading and learn about 50 workplace security safety tips that will most likely help you out and result in a decent workplace environment for you and your employees! 50 Workplace Security Safety Tips Physical Security - Lock Properly - Secure Entrances And Exits - Proper Lightning - Badges, ID Cards, Access Cards - Maintaining The Record Of All The Visitors - Crime Records Of The Area - Hiring Decent Guards - Losing Keys - Background Check Of Employees/Employee Screening - Emergency Plan - Proper Posture - The Use Of Machines, Tools, and Equipment - Medical Emergency Situations - Tidiness And Organization Of The Workplace - Ventilation And Storing Combustible/Hazardous Materials - Verified Alarm Systems - Restricted Server Rooms Data Security Control - Servicing The Tools And Machinery - Securing Workstations - Disabling Drives - Protecting Printers - Create Unique Passwords - Data Backups On Computers, Phones, Tablets - Good Security System - Video Systems - Anti-Malware Protection - Storing The Passwords - Getting Rid Of The Old Data You No Longer Need Monitoring And Analyzing - Automated Security Mechanisms - Monitoring Workplace Security Systems - Technology Is Reliable - Security Risk Analysis Cyber Security - Emails From Unknown People - Two-Factor Authentication - Multiple Email Accounts - The Proper Use Of Wi-Fi - Frequent System Updates - Potentially Unwanted Applications And Websites Safety Culture - Share Your Safety Concerns - First Aid Training - Security Procedures And Emergency Steps - Security Policies - Training Your Workplace Staff For Emergencies - Improvement Plan You might feel safe and believe nothing bad can happen. With our technology, the internet and all of the available programs out there, everyone is a target, so are you and your company. Owning a business means being aware of the possible threats, this means safety should always come first, no matter what. The moment you secure your workplace and inform everyone about the possible threats and ways of countering them. Your business will thrive and quickly grow, your employees will feel safer, and this will result in much better productivity as well! Physical Security You can buy all of the security mechanisms out there, but without maintenance, it will not turn to be useful at all. Keep your office well equipped, check on the lighting, locks, secure all of the entrances and exits. Physical security comes. First, it is on you to remember to do background checks; it is on you to keep track of the visitors in your business space. Lock Properly In order to keep your office or workplace safe and free of theft, lock up areas with sensitive information and files, USB drives, drawers, doors and no longer bother yourself thinking whether anything was left open and revealed. Proper locking habits are important not just for you, but your employees as well. Secure Entrances And Exits Creating a decent entrance and exit is crucial, but securing both of these is something many companies overlook and forget about. A secure exit is important because it will surely be used in emergency practices or regular emergencies that might occur. Most emergency exits need to ensure compliance with safety and health regulations; without these, your emergency exit will not be as safe as it should be. Proper Lighting Decent lighting is not only important when it comes to working efficiency and productivity, but it is also a way to discourage break-ins and prevent unwanted visitors from roaming around your workplace. Sufficient lighting will also give a feeling of safety for those employees who arrive early or leave when it is very dark. Badges, ID Cards, Access Cards Badges, ID cards, and access cards are a great thing; they will be a way to avoid tailgating, insider threats and possible unwanted visitors to your workplace. These are used to prevent access to anyone who does not work in the building themselves. There are many ways to control who can access the building, and with such an enormous choice of access kits, you only have to pick the right kit for your workplace. Maintaining The Record Of All The Visitors Having and maintaining the record of all the visitors who visited your workplace is an amazing thing. You will have a way to check up on anyone who has been visiting. In case anything happens, this should be one of the first things to consider keeping track of. If you have identification cards, they will verify people who had been entering the premises. Crime Records Of The Area It would be great having a criminal record of the area your facility is built on. Knowing about the history of the area and possible problems that might occur will surely help you out setting up an amazing security system. You will be aware of your surroundings and ready to stand up to the threats that are known for happening in the area. Hiring Decent Guards Guards are people who will make sure you are safe no matter what. These people are trained to react well in emergencies, they will protect you from unwanted visitors and alarm you if there is anything shady happening around the area. Hire decent guards for a better safety level. Losing Keys Losing keys, ID card or a badge is a bad thing, it will create gaps in your security, and that means your business is in danger. Whoever finds the lost keys, badge or an ID card can easily take advantage of all the information available to them at the moment. Physical theft, hacking, and even equipment theft are possible in case this happens. Background Check Of Employees/Employee Screening Your new employee might seem like a decent guy, but anyone can seem like a nice and kind person. Doing a background check for all of your employees is a smart thing to do; it does not mean you do not trust them; it means you just wish to keep them safe and trustworthy. Employees who have nothing to worry about will most likely have no problems being screened either, so do not worry! Emergency Plan You need to develop an emergency plan right away, train your employees to alert you of possible security problems. If there is any suspicious behavior going on, your employees should know how to deal with it; they need to know how to act and what to do in case an emergency happens. Proper Posture As much as you might be afraid of possible unwanted visitors, data breaches and locking issues, having bad furniture and unhealthy posture can also turn to be a danger for your business. Invest in proper office chairs, desks and give your employees a way to keep their posture healthy, it will keep them productive, motivated and a lot more creative than before. The Use Of Machines, Tools, and Equipment It is no secret everyone in the building should wear proper equipment for their tasks; they will need to know how to use the machines for their work, tools and anything else they might face in the workplace. Sharing your knowledge and experience with the machines and tools is something everyone will highly appreciate. Medical Emergency Situations Bad posture, bad ventilation, lighting and a lot of stress can result in serious health problems. In case one of your employees ends up injured, it is important to have someone who will deal with the situation properly. Having a First Aid training is advised no matter where you work. Tidiness And Organization Of The Workplace Did you know filthy and unorganized workspaces can have a terrible impact on your work productivity, health and overall business success? Make sure you set up rules, let your employees know how important it is to keep the workplace tidy and well-organized. No one likes to work surrounded by useless papers, clutter, and dust. Ventilation And Storing Combustible/Hazardous Materials Hazardous materials are dangerous, they need to be kept under control, stored, and everyone needs to be aware of the various types of workplace hazards. Educate yourself and your employees of workplace hazards and their prevention. As soon as you implement this, the accidents in the workplace will be reduced by a lot. Verified Alarm Systems Most offices today feature a good verified alarm system. This alarm system will ensure police responds to suspicious acts and criminals. Sonitrol is one of the solutions for your workplace; it is designed to alarm the police right away and keep your office free of any crime that might occur. Restricted Server Rooms Your server rooms should be a restricted area for only those who passed an in-depth security check. These people will have access to the area only through control management panel. To make it all even safer, make sure your server room is not easily accessible through a building of another business, building or a wall. Data Security Control Most of the companies nowadays use a computer, most of our business data are stored on our hard disks, emails, databases and more. How well do you protect your business data? What can you do to keep it all secure and away from the hackers? Understanding the mind of the hackers, unwanted visitors and those who wish to steal your valuable information is the key. Prevent them from gathering up your information and prove to be a great business owner by understanding how data security control works! Servicing The Tools And Machinery It is important to know how to use the tools and machinery at work, but it is also extremely important to keep them all serviced and well-functioning. Letting your employees work with broken equipment and tools will most likely result in injuries and additional expenses. Make sure you service all of the machinery as supposed to. Securing Workstations Make sure all of the computers that are not used end up disconnected and removed from the place. Lock all of the documents and important information in filing cabinets and make sure you are always ready to shred the useless paperwork. Disabling Drives Removing or disabling USB ports, floppy drives and other ways of connecting external drives is a smart idea. This will prevent people from copying your company information and causing a mess. Protecting Printers In today's world, printers are known for storing various documents on their onboard memories. In case a printer gets stolen or hacked, whoever did it will have full access to the copies of recently printed papers and documents. Make sure all of the printers are in a safe location and always put the extra copies of the documents in the locked shredding box. Create Unique Passwords Coming up with a unique and strong password is one of the most important things for your business. Thanks to various password managers out there, you can have it all done quickly. Using your birthdate or the name of a city you are born in is no longer a safe way of creating a password, keep that in mind! Data Backups On Computers, Phones, Tablets Honestly, how often do you backup your data? Just like many, barely ever… Backing up your data is important because in case anything happens, you can easily restore all of it and continue with your business as always. Of course, today, there are various ways to back up your data, there are even automated ways of doing data backups! Good Security System A good security system should also have an additional second layer of security. Make sure your security system deals with personal, informational, procedural and physical security at all times. To maintain your security at a high level, you need an improvement and maintenance plan! Video Systems Getting verified audio and CCTV video security is a must nowadays! This type of security will enable the operators to hear and see all of the things that happen in your office/workplace. Owning this type of security means police will get to know about shady things happening even before the criminals enter the building! Most of these systems verify the actual sources of the alarms. Anti-Malware Protection Everyone needs some type of anti-malware protection today. There are free anti-malware protection programs, but it is advised to pay for even more security. Make sure all of the computers, tablets, and smartphones in your office have anti-malware software installed, it will keep you well informed of the possible threats. Storing The Passwords Writing down your passwords is not a wise thing to do anymore. It might be hard to remember many different passwords, one for each service and product, but sharing passwords or writing them down on a sticky note is not a way to go. This way you can compromise you and your company data without even realizing the danger. Getting Rid Of The Old Data You No Longer Need Old documents, paperwork, hard disks, USB’s and CD’s, these are all completely useless, and you should get rid of them right now! While this data might not be important for you anymore, it might contain certain information that will help the hackers or burglars get what they want. Destroy all of the old data you no longer need, and never look back for it again. Monitoring And Analyzing You can buy the best monitoring devices, but nothing of it will be good if you never analyze them well. Monitoring and analyzing your data, visitors, mechanisms, systems, and technology, in general, will surely turn to be a great thing for your business. Keeping it all updated and well monitored will reduce your expenses and have your employees feel very safe in the working environment as it is. Automated Security Mechanisms In today’s world, there is no need for you to manually check on security mechanisms. Our technology is amazing right now, and automated security mechanisms are a lot more reliable than people themselves. An automated security mechanism will never forget, remember that! Monitoring Workplace Security Systems Making sure your workplace security systems are always up and running is a critical thing for your business. You do not want to find out your security system has been down because no one took time to monitor and make sure it all works well. Technology Is Reliable You might think you can rely on people. People will often forget important things due to stress, bad health, terrible mood or lack of sleep. However, technology will never forget, get sick or feel bad after a rough night. Make sure you select good software, mechanisms, and systems, and augment that with human support. Security Risk Analysis As much as you think it is all safe and done, it is always important to analyze and identify issues that might appear in your security. Maybe you do have a reliable security system, but maybe your audio is facing certain problems. All in all, no matter what system you go with, security risk analysis is one of the most important things you need to keep on doing no matter what. Cyber Security As much as we all love the internet and access to all of the information we need, the internet can be a dangerous place. Knowing how to protect yourself and your employees from cyber attacks are crucial. Today, there are a lot more hackers than there are burglars, their ways are usually not harmful to us physically, but they can steal our data and information faster than ever. Emails From Unknown People Do not click on any of the links in the emails or texts that seem to come from your bank or other institution. These can be viruses that will not only hack your phone/pc; they can also endanger your entire business in a matter of seconds. Cybercriminals are known for creating convincing emails and represent themselves as credit card companies, banks or other popular websites that hold financial data. Two-Factor Authentication Enable 2-step verification and setup it on your Google Accounts. Do this for everything that allows you to have a two-factor authentication, and you will no longer have to worry so much about whether someone has been logging your accounts or not. Two-factor authentication will most likely require your phone number and your secret question/answer to set up. Multiple Email Accounts Did you know having multiple email accounts is a great idea? Separating your services, personal emails, and various website logins is a fantastic way of keeping your data protected and less likely to end up exposed. Have a completely different email for different businesses and services that you use. The Proper Use Of Wi-Fi Wi-Fi is everywhere; it is something we truly love and enjoy having. Sadly, not knowing how to properly use it can be extremely dangerous for our businesses. If you are ever connected to the Wi-Fi, make sure you use your company’s VPN. Try to avoid doing any sensitive work or any money transactions at all. Frequent System Updates No matter what you have installed on your computers, tablets or smartphones in the area, try and keep them all up to date. Install the latest versions of installed software and keep your Java, PDF, Excel and other programs updated accordingly. Potentially Unwanted Applications And Websites You just bought computers, tablets or smartphones for your employees, but did you make sure to prevent them from downloading unwanted applications and visiting shady websites? You do not want your office/workplace equipment to be filled with programs and data that might end up harmful for your business. Safety Culture Only after you show how important safety is to you and your company, only then your employees will feel safe and help you come up with new improved safety plans. Sharing your experiences, explaining your security policies and concerns will most likely bring you closer to your employees, maybe even have some of them open up and share some of their concerns. Share Your Safety Concerns When you are finally set, you should get your employees together and have them share their safety concerns, who knows maybe someone has thought a lot more about it than you did and can help you come up with great solutions. Knowing what concerns your employees will help you create a healthier and friendlier environment for you all. First Aid Training As already mentioned earlier, knowing the basics of first aid can turn out to be a great thing that can save someone's life. Train some of your employees and have them know about first aid kit in case an emergency happens. Security Procedures And Emergency Steps Many companies make a big mistake assuming everybody already knows the emergency steps and is aware of the security procedures. Many employees miss out on regular training, and they do not know about some of these procedures at all. Make sure all of your employees share their knowledge and give tips to those who are not yet well-informed. Nicely Written Security Policies There is no better way of having everyone understand how important security is than to have it all written down and nicely presented before them. Have someone, or yourself create an infographic or a presentation about security policies. This way everyone will end up understanding the rules and try to follow them as they are. Training Your Workplace Staff For Emergencies Training First Aid is not the only thing your staff should know. Knowing how to use exit properly, fire extinguishers and other things that can prevent an enormous accident from happening. Teach all of your staff where to go in case certain hazardous materials come out, or things get out of control, show them how to stay peaceful and reasonable in such situations. Related Questions My company has no VPN: what to do? NordVPN has one month and 1,2,3 year plan, buying it is a great idea especially if your employees often use the internet and store a lot of data there. NordVPN is currently one of the most popular VPN services out there, and it is secure, private access to the internet for all of you who need it. What is the best CCTV System I can get? Arlo Q is a 24/7 security monitoring featuring 1080p HD video, audio and night vision. It is a great video and audio monitoring system that seems to be growing very popular all over the world. With 24/7 recordings, alerts and 7-day cloud recording, Arlo Q is one of the best CCTV systems you can get for your business.