Protecting Your Business

The criminal opportunity associated with modern day business is great. This may result in criminals being attracted to your property or the cars parked there. In order to make your property safer, it is important to examine your property for obvious risk factors.

Remember, the most secure property is a property that doesn’t attract criminals.

BASIC RISK ASSESSMENT
EXTERIOR
Are views of your property obscured or are there any adult sized hiding spots around your windows or doors?
Are therea large number of vehicles parked in your parking lot?
Are there any cars that are parked in poorly observed areas or are otherwise distant from the building?
Is your property regularly trespassed?
Are there “weapons of opportunity” such as loose river rock in parking lots or adjacent to windows and doors?

INTERIOR
Is your office equipped with computers?
Can strangers enter your building without talking to a receptionist or other employee?
Do employees routinely ignore unescorted strangers beyond the reception area and/or do you have a large number of employees?

PREVIOUS CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
Has a crime occurred on your property within the past year?

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY
Have you received any suspicious day-time visits from strangers?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should take steps to reduce your risk.

Read more about this topic in Basic Business Security below.

Available PDF Documents Click on a thumbnail to download.
		Basic Business Security The criminal opportunity associated with modern day business is great. This may result in criminals being attracted to your property or the cars parked there. In order to make your property safer, it is important to examine your property for obvious risk factors. Remember, the most secure property is a property that doesn’t attract criminals.
		Protecting Your Building The speed and cost to business of modern day burglaries is shocking. Most computer and electronic burglaries are over in less than 90 seconds, often in less time that it takes for the average alarm company to contact Police, yet result in a staggering losses when the loss of information and disruption to business are included. For this reason you should not rely solely on alarm systems, or other narrowly focused countermeasures such as security bars to protect your valuables. Alarm systems and security bars are not complete security systems. They are simply options to be considered when developing an effective security strategy that is appropriate for your business.
		Robbery Look safe! Give the store a look that says, “We are vigilant.” A half-asleep clerk in a sloppy store invites would-be robbers. To them, a careless scene means that you must also be careless with money. To discourage them, you should: Get out from behind the counter when the store is empty. Keep the store clean and well stocked. Keep active. Your activity will turn away some robbers simply because it would take too much time for them to get back to the cash register. Robbers prefer quick robberies.
		Robbery Prevention Fact Sheet Robbery is a traumatic experience for any victim. This fact sheet provides the business owner with basic information that may diminish the chances of becoming a victim. If the steps are followed after a robbery takes place, you will be able to provide information to assist police officers in arresting the perpetrator and, more importantly, in assuring the protection of an innocent victim.
		Shop Theft, including “shoplifting”, is the stealing of merchandise and/or money by a person from your business. This could mean either external or internal (employee) theft. Retail Council of Canada’s 1997 Retail Security Report estimated retailers suffer losses each year of almost $4 Billion. Contributors to the report attributed 46% of losses to theft by customers, 29% to theft by employees, 19% to administrative errors and 6% to vendor fraud. The survey results indicated that “customers” steal $5 Million per day. The average loss in each incident involving a customer theft was reported at $104, and the average per employee was $338.
		Workplace Violence Is Costly Many provinces’ Occupational Health and Safety Acts have a general requirement that the employer, “take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker.” The damaging legal, economic and human costs caused by workplace violence, demands that employers take practical steps to address the issue proactively and responsibly. A properly designed workplace violence program will meet that objective.