Forgotten maintenance

Congratulations! Your company finally started to take security seriously. They have completed a security risk assessment, worked with department managers and senior leaders to create policies and procedures to ensure a safe and secure environment for their employees, and encouraged a security culture in the workplace. They even solicited design professionals to design physical and electronic security measures to eliminate or mitigate known risks. Lastly, they hired competent and knowledgeable contractors and integrators to install and implement them. All of this was done with the assistance of an independent security consultant. Things are great… for now, but what happens five years from now? How about ten, or twenty?

Maintenance is a critical part of operations for any company or organization. Without proper maintenance of building systems, they will quickly fall into disrepair. It’s common without a

detailed maintenance program that equipment will get missed especially in low impact and less travelled areas.

Loading docks and outbuildings are notorious for damaged and burnt-out lighting especially now with LEDs. We assume that they will last for 25 years or more, however this isn’t always the case. The same thing can happen with door hardware. A door which over time becomes out of square with the frame or hardware which becomes damaged through improper use can provide unauthorized access to buildings presenting a security issue.

What I have found over the years is that security equipment is only repaired or replaced when it fails and rarely undergoes preventive maintenance. Some organizations will allow failing systems and equipment to decay in place instead of replacing it.

Fire alarm systems unlike its sister security systems are required to undergo preventive maintenance per code such as the NFPA 72, International Fire Code, and other regulations. Security systems and equipment while not having code required maintenance must be maintained or If your organization doesn’t have one, an operations and maintenance plan for security systems and equipment should be created. This should detail devices and equipment to be maintained, tasks associated with each, and maintenance frequency as recommended by the manufacturer and tailor it for the environment and use the specific facility. This is the bare minimum.

An independent technical security consultant can help you identify maintenance issues and develop a maintenance plan to ensure that none of this equipment becomes a security risk down the road.

Bastion Security Group can help your organization by developing this plan, but this is only part of the bigger picture. A facility should have an up-to-date security risk assessment performed by an independent security consultant to better understand the security risks affecting your business. If you are tired of looking at deferred maintenance reports contact us info@bastionsecuritygroup.com and let us help you identify, and remedy your maintenance woes.