Outdoor CCTV camera – Image Courtesy of Pexels
It’s always a good idea to have policies in place to reduce the impact of criminal activity at your business. You can do this in many ways to prevent having to deal with major incidents. Here are some of the most effective that really work, and you can start most of them right now.
Get the Right Insurance Beforehand
Insurance won’t prevent crime from happening. But it’s an excellent ally when trying to recover from it. The impact won’t be as severe if you have policies in place, such as theft or vandalism, bodily harm, and property loss insurance. Sites like CommercialInsurance.net have tons of articles and free advice regarding business insurance. Most of the time, you can get insurance online or over the phone. Coverage begins almost immediately for some policies.
Try to Reduce Employee Crime
30% of businesses go out of business every year because employees stole their money and left them with nothing. You can make clear rules about stealing and make sure everyone knows about them. Be careful about who you let borrow your keys and who you tell your security codes to. Theft should always be dealt with swiftly and decisively. Be ready to back the prosecution 100%. Keep a watchful eye on any money, because some employees will likely try to steal it.
Criminal Activity at Your Business Includes Data
Use access controls to limit who can get into a computer to safeguard sensitive data like client financial documents and employee information. Check to see who has access and change passwords often. Install firewalls and anti-virus applications on your IT systems to make sure they are safe from outside threats. Also, watch out for paper waste. Don’t just throw it away. Shred it instead. And buy some filing cabinets with locks to store company or client information.
Install Top Notch Security
If you need to, you can reinforce security with locks, heavy doors, and lighting. Each will help keep burglars away since most break-ins happen with lax security. Also, install CCTV at access points. And if you don’t already have an alarm, install one and put up signs to let criminals know it’s there. Most times, this is enough. But your staff should also be able to notify you about crimes. And ensure their safety by not keeping large amounts of money on the premises.
Perform Background Checks
Criminals change their ways because they know that if they want to stay in business, they need to find new or better ways to do what they do. You should always look into their past jobs and check their references, even for temporary or part-time workers. And make sure your security measures are still good enough. Do this at least every year, and always listen to what your employees have to say about how you can protect your business and them in better ways.
Summary
It’s a good idea to go out of your way to stop criminal activity at your business. Some of the easiest ways are to have insurance, protect data, and do background checks on employees.
Thank you for reading!
