How to protect your business in the face of insecurity during periods of confinement?

The annual assessment of insecurity in France for the year 2019 turns out to be very negative. Here is the evolution of the main categories of crimes compared to 2018:

• Assault and injury: +8.5%
• Homicide attempts: +9.5%
• Harassment, assault, and sexual assault: +10.5%
• Business burglaries: + 5%
• Contempt to the police: +4.75%

Over 20 years, the statistics concerning business burglaries are nevertheless on a downward trend (around 110,000 cases in 2001 compared to around 68,500 in 2019) thanks to the democratization of remote surveillance and intrusion alarm systems. As proven by the growth of the private security market (+33% between 2010 and 2018), more and more structures are also using the services of security agents, in order to secure premises or professional events. It is therefore recommended that any business manager assess the risks and potential losses, in order to put in place an appropriate security system.

Call security guards

It is strongly recommended to outsource this service, and therefore to hire a private security company to set up a security system made up of agents:

• The security companies you contact will be able to provide you with a diagnosis based on their experience and respecting regulations. They will be able to recommend the types of agents (prevention and security agent, dog handler, fire agent, events agent, etc.) and the devices most suited to your situation.
• You will have guarantees regarding the skills of the security agents. Indeed, agents must have successfully completed one or more training courses and hold a valid CNAPS professional card. Without knowledge in this area, you may encounter difficulties in engaging the right profiles directly.
• Margins are generally quite low in the private security industry, so you won't gain much by hiring a security guard directly. In this market which suffers from a downward leveling of prices, the selling price is often even too close to the cost price. It is recommended to allocate a reasonable budget (from €20 to €35 excluding VAT per hour) for each agent and not to seek the lowest price, but rather a quality service and guarantees of reliability and seriousness, in order to benefit from real protection in the event of a crisis situation.
• You will be able to control your budget and bring in several agents who will take turns at different times depending on your needs.
• You will not have to manage these hirings in terms of human resources, but simply to pay for a service.

Security agents will be able to secure your premises, as well as professional events organized by your company. They will know how to deal with intrusions and also fires, if they have followed SSIAP (Fire Safety and Personal Assistance Service) training.

Implement video surveillance in your business

Before setting up video surveillance in your business, several rules must be respected:

• Inform your employees by means of an individual letter, and also by means of a letter addressed to the works council.
• If part of the business is open to the public, and this part will be filmed by surveillance cameras, you must obtain authorization from the prefecture beforehand.
• If the company is not open to the public at all, you must obtain authorization from the CNIL.
• Do not film any of the following locations: employees at their desks or workstations, union offices, break rooms, restrooms, and public roads.

The video surveillance system can be configured to film and record continuously, or to record only when motion is detected.

Subscribe to a remote monitoring service

Remote monitoring is an ongoing service that you can subscribe to from a security company, so that operators can take care of any crisis situation in your business, such as an intrusion triggering the alarm system in the middle of the night. The principle is to connect your alarm system to a remote monitoring center. The operators are trained security agents who work in a remote monitoring center, observe images remotely, and react in the event of an alert. They control the situation, and make the decision to send patrol officers to the scene so that they can remove any doubts, before calling the police if necessary.

Control access to your business

To protect your company's assets, install armored doors and control access to your buildings. You can replace your door locks (mechanical cylinder) with an electronic cylinder. Transmitters configurable via software will then replace the keys. The most classic solution remains that of the badge reader, which allows you to define personalized access according to employees, rooms, and schedules. An alternative solution that is easier to manage is to install a code keypad. However, it is less secure and cannot be personalized for each employee.