By Andrew
Gibson, Solutions Engineering Consultant at STANLEY Security
The threat of COVID-19 has strained businesses in various
ways. Financial concerns coupled with operational changes and working to
proactively keep employees, customers and other visitors safe are overwhelming
many leaders.
When stay-at-home orders first went into effect, some
businesses could pivot to a remote workforce and remote security management;
those unable to do so quickly developed procedures and policies to promote a
safer, healthier environment for their workplace.
Regardless of how the initial impact was handled,
business leaders realized COVID-19 would have a long-term impact and require
ongoing changes to securely manage the workplace of the future.
This realization surfaced many questions: Who needs to be
in the office? Can we open the office to the public or other visitors? What
schedule should we set for vendors? How do we enforce social distancing? And of
course, how can we keep everyone safe and healthy?
Here are three tips to navigate these concerns within the
new normal:
Set policies to
regulate business space
With so many remote workflows and new technologies
available, putting every employee in the office at one time can introduce many
health and safety risks. Before considering reopening your doors to everyone,
determine who needs to be at the office regularly, who can work from home
periodically and who can continue with a completely remote schedule. After
establishing policies, evaluate how best to utilize your physical space to
uphold social distancing guidelines.
Don't neglect high-traffic office areas like conference
and break rooms - reconfigure those spaces to reduce headcount. Also, consider
surge events or busier times of the year. For example, retailers experience
traffic surges during the holiday season. Leaders should react to these
increases in human interaction by re-evaluating policies, floor plans and work
schedules.
Finally, remember that returning to the office does not
have to happen right away. Many organizations are planning to keep employees
home for an extended period to allow time for the rollout of proper mitigation
procedures. Regardless of your specific plan, use your space efficiently and
work to enforce social distancing to maintain a healthy workplace.
Implement updated
technology
In light of the pandemic, various security systems have
either been updated or developed to meet the
modern workplace's unique challenges. Of particular interest are visitor
management solutions that integrate with access control systems to automate
building access, symptom screening and temperature detection, with built-in,
custom workflows.
For example, employees or visitors entering the office
can take a symptom screening questionnaire before even stepping foot in the
building. If no symptoms are reported, a mobile credential is sent to allow
building access. However, if an individual does report symptoms, HR can receive
a notification to automatically postpone the visit. This process helps ensure
employees and visitors have an easy and efficient way to report symptoms and
the proper parties are notified immediately.
Businesses can also implement automated temperature
screenings in conjunction with this process. Integrating this technology with
an existing access control system eliminates the need for an individual to
manually perform the temperature screen. Instead, visitors and employees are
directed to a touchless screening kiosk upon arrival, which scans skin
temperature. If an individual's temperature is outside of the established
threshold, they can be denied access.
Advanced visitor management and access control systems
also include a complete audit trail, providing administrators and business
leaders a snapshot of how their office is used and who goes where. Insights
such as how many employees are coming in day-to-day as well as what areas are
experiencing heavy traffic at what time are insights critical to continually
improving virus spread mitigation efforts.
Set policies for
isolation measures
Many organizations have implemented prevention measures,
such as providing personal protective equipment and outlining a schedule for
disinfection. However, leaders must set policies on how to handle the isolation
of individuals who fail screening measures.
This could mean isolating an individual already in the
building or setting a work from home policy from those who report symptoms or a
positive test. For example, if an individual goes through the temperature
screen process and presents an elevated temperature, businesses must have
protocols in place, such as a set isolation area and building exit procedure,
to mitigate potential virus spread.
The workplace of
the future is a long-term reality
The world we now live in is unlike anything many of us
have ever experienced. The reality is the impact of COVID-19 will remain long
after the virus is eliminated.
Business leaders must better define processes and
policies and also implement new technologies to help ensure the health and
safety of their people. Creating a safe and healthy workplace is a critical
component of effective facility management, more so than ever before.
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About the Author
Andrew
Gibson is a Solutions Engineering Consultant at STANLEY Security, a
provider of integrated security solutions defining the future of the security
industry. Gibson has more than a decade of experience working in the security
space with a background in a variety of areas including physical security, IT
infrastructure, IT operations and project management. In his role with STANLEY
Security, Gibson works to design and implement SaaS-based security solutions
that protect customers from a variety of security threats. Acting as an IT and
technical liaison for SaaS solutions and implementations, Gibson helps
customers successfully navigate the convergence of IT and physical security
environments.