5 Tips to Secure a Commercial Warehouse
Within the last few months, more and more people are shopping online and getting the things they need delivered right to their door. That means business owners are seeing more sales and utilizing more warehouse space to meet the rising demand. Owning a commercial warehouse can mean your property is more susceptible to intruders, and subsequently, theft.
If you want to keep your merchandise and equipment safe, there are a few things you can do to reduce the likelihood of theft. Take a look at five ways to secure your commercial warehouse and prevent or reduce loss.
1. Hire a Guard and Require Name Badges and Uniforms
Hiring a guard for the night shift is a great way to secure your commercial warehouse because most theft occurs at night when there are fewer people around. So if you hire a guard or two to patrol the property at night, your warehouse is more likely to remain secure. Have your guards do regular patrols throughout the night at specific intervals to make it harder for thieves to gain access.
2. Get a Security Camera System
With the help of a security camera system, you don’t have to physically be there to verify that things are running smoothly. Check-in at any time to keep tabs on major shipments and deliveries, customer traffic, daily operations and more. A security camera system is also a deterrent for potential thieves, and provides invaluable information if an incident happens to occur on-site. The best places to put security cameras are hallways and staircases, entrances and open areas, potentially hazardous areas, and perimeters and parking lots.
3. Install Lighting
Installing lighting around the perimeter of your property can make thieves more cautious about approaching your warehouses, especially when combined with security cameras. That’s because it means they know they’re likely going to be captured on camera and potentially caught at some point down the line, which means they’re less likely to intrude. So, even if your security camera system has adequate lighting, you can always add in extra fixtures to ensure your property is well lit at night.
4. Require All Visitors to Have an Access Card
If you require every visitor to your warehouse to have an access card in order to get past the security gates and into the actual warehouse itself, you’ll reduce the risk of theft. To make it even harder for unauthorized people from getting in, make anyone who wants to get inside show proper ID and sign in. Also, it might be best to restrict certain areas of your warehouse so that only people with an access code or key card can gain entry. That way, you’ll have multiple measures in place to bar access to your warehouse goods.
5. Get Intruder Detection
If you want to keep your commercial warehouse truly secure, consider getting an alarm and motion detectors so that when your warehouse is closed, it makes it harder for someone to just walk in undetected. An alarm can help prevent theft by discouraging anyone considering trespassing that they likely won’t get away with their crimes. If you haven’t already, consider taking the appropriate measures to ensure you secure your commercial warehouse and protect your merchandise so that you can continue to serve your customers.
Next Steps
As you can see, it doesn’t take much to secure a commercial warehouse and protect your merchandise. When you take the precautions mentioned above, you can reduce your risk of theft and keep your employees safe. Monitoring your warehouse daily by using security cameras is probably one of the least expensive, but most effective ways to ensure your property (as well as anything and anyone inside) remains safe and protected.