On a regular basis security managers need to ask themselves the question: “How can I tighten up access control to my facility and reduce the risk to the staff and public/customers visiting it?”

If a solution that was acceptable 10 years ago is left to function to its original specification and the site was breached, security managers could find themselves having to explain why no steps were taken to prevent an unauthorized person or persons gaining access to his/her facility carrying a weapon or an explosive device.

Typical reasons organizations in Australia have not worried about tightening up access to their facilities have included:
• The threat is not serious in Australia

• There is nothing you can do
• The cost is prohibitive

These reasons may no longer be valid:
• The threat would appear to be moving inorexably closer to us
• Because of the threat overseas more capable technology is available now
• Because of the increased need and volume of sales the relative costs have come down

When it comes to high rise buildings, factories and warehouses we are talking about a confined and more manageable space. Here cost effective measures can be put in place. Public facilities where large numbers of people gather are a different and more difficult situation. Universities and theatres, clubs are three topical examples.

I will deal with the first situation first since additional controls can quite quickly be implemented. When taking access control to the next level you have to look at tightening up your system so that you are guaranteed to an acceptable degree, that only authorized staff get access to your facility. If you already have an access control system the main issues are guaranteeing the identity of the authorized person and eliminating tailgating. If you do not already have an access control system you have the opportunity to jump straight to the highest level of access from the outset.

The first issue was guaranteeing the identity of the staff member each and every time they enter the premises. Passwords, PINs and standard credentials are not a 100 per cent guarantee of the person’s identity. To take identification to the next level you would have to go to biometrics.

Having found a biometrics solution that suits your operation and which is now guaranteeing the identity of your staff, the second issue, tailgating, needs to be addressed. This will require turnstiles, raceways or revolving doors.

One would hope that the threats from staff would be a lesser risk than the threat from outside. The staff screening, training and company morale are important factors in reducing risk here. Since this is an article on technology I will not dwell on this HR issue.

The hardest part about handling visitors is that it is labour intensive. The amount of labour is directly related to the number of visitors. There is technology available now to help automate this process and thereby reduce the amount of labour needed. There is software and equipment for logging appointments, scanning visitor’s cards, printing visitors badges and recording time of entry, who was visited and their time of departure.

The software allows reports on which visitors are in the building, who they should be with, what time they departed or if they have not departed as scheduled.

There is no point on tightening up access at reception if the car park provides an easy “back door” entry. The process for entry from the car park into the building will have to be the same as above. Visitors will have to be directed to Reception without being allowed into the building first. Visitors cars would not normally be allowed into the building or at least not until they have been registered as a legitimate visitor.