Without the right security system in place, you could be leaving yourself open to being attacked from all sides.
If you’re looking at the top warehouse security companies, you need to know that they’ll protect you from every kind of breach that may occur.
Interested to find out more? Here are four things to look for in Pennsylvania security companies.
1. Don’t Let Them Use Manual Data Entry
When researching security companies in Pennsylvania, try to find out how they collect data. One of the things that will ensure you get the safety you deserve is to have your security collecting data. They should know who’s going in and out of every building, who checks out what, and who accesses your sensitive spaces.
With the kind of technology available today, there’s no reason you can’t have a secure system with all the bells and whistles. You should be able to have mobile computers connected to barcode scanners and RFID readers. These can be at the dock of your warehouse to immediately identify products.
They should also be all across your facility to read IDs for your staff and manage who is allowed in each region of your site. The scanners and RFID readers should centralize all of your data. You need to ensure that your staff knows what that data means as well.
If you have employees manually checking things in, it’s much easier for people and products to sneak in. In case you have problems, there’s no easy way to look through your system for a resolution.
Make sure that whatever security company you choose has access to this kind of technology and the training to deploy it.
2. Check Out Their Emergency Response Plan
You never know what good security brings to a warehouse until an emergency strikes. When someone major happens and you need to respond, that’s when you know how robust your security staff is. However, there are ways to ensure you don’t have to wait to find this out.
Every company should have an emergency response plan in place – with appropriate training – to stay compliant with OSHA regulations.
The plan needs to have provisions for what your emergency exit locations are and how you’ll be evaluated in case of an emergency. While you’ll be vetting companies you haven’t worked with before, they should be able to provide you with examples of emergency evacuation plans.
You need procedures to account for all of the employees in your building. You also need to account for visitors, which is another reason why having a digitized system is critical.
Your warehouse needs to have fire extinguishers all around the equipment that is flammable or that could be. The operations in your warehouse require a lockout program to keep equipment from being accidentally engaged. These are just two of the many ways that your essential productivity tools could work against you in case of an emergency.
3. Listen When They Communicate
When you’re in search of a great security company in the Pennsylvania area, you need to listen through every step of the way. A company that puts its selling foot forward is less likely to be listening to you than one that starts its sales path by asking you lots of questions.
Listen from the moment your phone connects to their office to the emails they follow up with.
If you don’t like the way they treat every member of your staff when they’re at your warehouse, you’re not going to enjoy working with them. While you have plenty of questions for them, a company that acts like a bunch of know-it-alls is going to grate against your team.
The best security company should be able to give you examples of other similar businesses they’ve worked with. One that you should avoid is going to tell you what you need without knowing anything about your site.
They should be looking beyond building security to the entire complex. They should be aware of the terrain, potential landscape, or environmental issues. They should even be looking for problems that wildlife could bring to your site.
4. Look for Integrated Technology
Whether your security company is going to set up new technology for you or use what you’ve already got, all of your technology should be integrated. You should have technology that your staff can connect to remotely and that gives regular updates. Even just getting an email notification of a smoke alarm battery about to expire can make the difference between life and death.
When your goal is to safeguard your facility and secure the highest traffic areas in your building, you need remote notifications. The people on site need to know when the space has been breached. As a site supervisor, manager, or executive, you also have the right to know when this happens.
If someone accesses a space they shouldn’t, it could lead to problems weeks or even months later. Someone breaking into your server room, pushing a USB drive into a system, and infecting it with a virus can happen in a matter of seconds. You need to have a notification system to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
Even if you’re not on site, you should be able to get that notification anytime.
Top Warehouse Security Companies Keep You Going
If you don’t hire one of the top warehouse security companies, you could be facing untold issues with your inventory, your staff, or visitor security. Make sure you vet companies properly before you hire one.
If you haven’t put together your warehouse security checklist yet, check out our latest guide.