Industrial Space in St. Louis: Is Your Workplace Security Fit for the Task?

A basic responsibility for a property management team is security

Good property management covers the entire span of keeping a property profitable for its owners and usable for its tenants. There’s a lot more to management than just taking tenant calls for repairs and reconciling budgets for landlords. One of the key responsibilities for a property management team is keeping the workplace safe.

Workplace security is a big issue. Based on a study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice, workplaces saw over 572,000 violent crimes committed in one year — 2009. That number doesn’t include the 521 homicides, and actually represents a major decline from the 2.1 million violent crimes and 1,068 homicides in 1993. Workplace violence touches men and women in all industries and professions.

When people aren’t getting hurt, their companies are. Cargo theft alone cost $35 billion in 2011, according to Tyco Security. The average retail burglary cost $5,209 in 2008. These are real costs that don’t always take into account the additional expenses of repairing the damage, coping with lost sales and adjusting business plans to provide greater security.

With this in mind, one of the first questions that you should ask the property management before moving into a new industrial space in St. Louis is: what is your security infrastructure? When a manager can’t answer the question, or points to a single fence that doesn’t properly protect the property, it might be time to move on. Here are some security features that you can look for when choosing space for your business:

• 24-by-7 security coverage. Facilities that take security seriously keep a security staff operating during business hours for customers — and for criminals. This means that the facility is always protected, making it harder for people with nefarious intent to find a “convenient” time to break into the facility — and into your business.
• Comprehensive video surveillance. While a security staff can’t see everything at every time, a video surveillance system can. Video surveillance serves as a force multiplier for security staffs while also capturing evidence that can be used against criminals if they do get through. This provides a powerful deterrent effect.
• Perimeter control. Perimeter control through fencing and gates creates chokepoints to make a facility easier to secure. As long as the installed fencing is both strong and adequately high enough to keep people out, it forces them to enter through gateways, making it harder for them to surreptitiously enter the industrial space.
• Identification protocols. Taking the time to investigate everyone entering the facility also enhances security. It gives security personnel time to judge if someone should be let in while also creating a paper trail as to who enters and where they go when they get there.

Clark Properties has decades of experience in property management and knows how to secure a facility. Our Union Seventy Center, located north of downtown St. Louis offers all of these security features and more. It provides an environment for small and large businesses that is attractive, convenient and, above all, safe. Talk to Clark Properties about your industrial space in St. Louis.