Sécurité des sites

Chapter summary

Site protection starts with identifying and selecting a suitable location, bearing in mind that the perfect choice seldom exists. In addition to space, price and other criteria, the physical strengths and weaknesses of a site can be assessed from a security point of view – what is acceptable, what must be improved and how much this would cost. This allows an organisation to assess suitability and to detail and negotiate any permissions to make alterations before signing a lease.

Some key considerations that can influence site selection and the installation of physical security measures include:

• How these may affect the way the organisation is perceived by local actors.
• Whether these meet the varying needs of staff considering their personal profiles (e.g. accessibility for mobility impaired staff).
• Physical criteria, such as structural resilience, location, accessibility and secure parking.
• Building ownership, occupancy and tenancy.
• The nature, security and make-up of the surrounding neighbourhood.

With regard to the physical security of work and residential sites, a useful rubric is ‘Deter, detect, delay and respond’. This can include: adding elements to make a building harder to enter, such as walls, bars and access controls; removing elements that make it hard to see potential intruders and adding cameras, alarms and watchmen; having a saferoom that can delay intruders’ access to staff; and putting procedures in place to quickly respond when intrusions are detected. Organisations will want to consider the security of the outer and inner perimeters of the site, as well as the location and features of safe rooms for staff to seek refuge during emergencies from intruders until help arrives.

Good practice in general site security risk management includes:

• Promoting individual awareness and collective responsibility for site security
• The careful selection and use of guards
• Access control measures
• Protocols for responding to threatening or suspicious phone calls, letters and parcels

Managing the security of distribution sites requires other considerations in addition to site selection and management, particularly a good understanding of the target population, careful management of entry and exit points and good crowd and movement control.