The Top 5 Physical Business Security Threats of 2022

By Ryan Schonfeld

Businesses around the world face security threats almost every day. Investing in physical security to protect employees and assets has become increasingly important, especially during the current global pandemic.

The success of any business in any industry relies on a risk assessment and functional physical security measures to identify present hazards and to avoid future threats. But what threats are deemed the most serious, and how can they be prevented?

Top 5 Business Security Threats

1. Crime/Theft

There has undoubtedly been an increase in crime since the pandemic swept the nation in early 2020. Companies of all sizes are more at risk of burglary, robbery, vandalism, shoplifting, theft, and fraud than ever before.

An unfortunate trend supporting this increase is the rise of "flash mob" style burglaries. The criminals' strategy is to commit crimes en masse, limiting the likelihood of police or security apprehending all of the suspects. The traditional security guard is not equipped to stand up to a sizable group and cannot handle this situation.

According to NRF's 2020 Organized Retail Crime Survey, three-fourths of retailers reported an increase in organized crime in 2020, with losses averaging $700,000 per $1 billion in sales.

What your business can do:

• Be prepared. Having a strategy in place for if and when these types of crimes occur is vital. If you can find out ahead of time if an event will be happening (see the next tip: "Social Media Monitoring"), you won't be caught off guard and forced to think quickly and on the spot.

• Social media monitoring. Most of these crimes are highly coordinated ahead of time via social media. Social media monitoring can sometimes detect these events in time for physical security measures to be implemented.

• Utilize technology. Take advantage of technology that would allow high-value items/your location to be locked down quickly and to record the crimes in progress.

2. Workplace Violence

Workplace violence can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. The types of relationships that can cause workplace violence typically are worker-on-worker, customer/client, personal relationships, and criminal intent. Unfortunately, this type of violence occurs at a startling rate in the United States.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, one in seven people don't feel safe at their workplace. That's an alarming number of people who spend 40+ hours a week feeling uneasy or unsafe while contributing to the success and growth of the company. If employees don't feel confident in their daily safety, how can we expect them to do their jobs adequately?

What your business can do:

• Access control. Control whom you're letting into your facilities and when—even your employees. Employees cause 21% of workplace violence incidents; 79% involve people who shouldn't have been able to enter the building in the first place.

• Identify warning signs. Technology tools can help identify threats and compliance issues across social media and the dark web. This is relevant for both internal threats from employees and external threats.

• Integration of data and cooperation between teams. When your data is aggregated from your cyber, access control, video surveillance systems, and social media/web monitoring systems, operational efficiency is increased. Your ability to work cross-functionally amongst teams increases when data is not being analyzed in silos, creating a fuller picture for physical security, cyber security, and HR teams.

3. Biosecurity

Now more than ever, employee and company safety comes with an emphasis on physical health. Health and safety teams who were once more concerned about appeasing OSHA have now become novice epidemiologists, keeping up on the latest Covid strains and CDC recommendations.

Although the need for biosecurity is currently top of mind, it is not a new need. Pre-pandemic, annual influenza epidemics cost American workers over $16 billion in lost earnings annually.

Security systems are now available that utilize all data inputs for enhanced contact tracing to combat and prevent major pandemics like Covid-19 and the flu. Putting these systems in place will help protect your company's most significant asset: your employees.

More articles from AllBusiness.com:

• Preventing Crime and Violence in the Workplace
• Is Your Business at Risk? Understanding Risk Management
• 5 Ways to Protect Your Business Credit Identity During the Holidays
• The Threat From Within: When Mobile Imperils Your Business Security
• 6 Threats That Could Derail a First-Time Entrepreneur’s Success

4. Natural Disasters

Natural disasters have increased by a factor of five over the past 50 years, primarily fueled by climate change. With these disasters only expected to worsen and happen more often, companies need to prioritize more useful security systems to keep their employees and assets safe.

Fortunately, thanks to improved early warnings and disaster management, the number of deaths from these disasters has decreased almost threefold. However, there are still snags in current systems that do not adequately communicate warnings and plans to employees. More effective systems can save even more lives.

Business continuity and recovery plans for hazardous weather are essential for companies. Some systems can utilize early warnings to detect these events, alert companies, and properly communicate to employees to put their disaster evacuation plans in place. It's important to get ahead of disasters to protect your employees.

5. Back to Work/Hybrid

When the pandemic started in early 2020, millions worldwide transitioned from office to home. Suddenly, keeping people safe on the job also meant protecting employees while in their own homes. With some going back to in-office work and others permanently working from home, the physical security of an organization's employees and its assets has become a more complex issue that requires more attention.

According to Omdia’s 2021 Future of Work survey, 36% of employees report minimal office time, primarily conducting work from home or remote-based; 24% of employees are permanently based in an office, and 22% utilize a hybrid work environment.

As the dynamic of work changes, the way we approach security has to change too.

What your business can do:

• Workspace management/registration. Having people register for a desk before they come in lets you know who will be in the office and when. If something abnormal happens, like an employee unexpectedly using access control to enter a building, the right teams can be notified immediately and take action.

• Visitor management. Now, having a record of who visited when is even more important for things like contact tracing.

• Merge the siloed cyber and physical security teams. These systems need to work together to understand how they affect each other for total operational efficiency.

Businesses have an obligation to protect employees from security threats

Companies owe a duty of care to their employees to keep them safe and protected from the ever-growing complexity of physical security threats.

New approaches, innovative technologies, and a strong business security plan are necessary to protect employees and prevent physical security breaches effectively. Properly and efficiently assessing and gathering all the physical security data available to a company allows them to become proactive instead of reactive, protecting companies and their employees and saving lives.

It’s time to make employee safety a top priority.

RELATED: 5 Simple Steps to Secure Your WordPress Website