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Visitor Management Protocol should be updated regularly

by Paul Kazlauskas

Most companies, schools, and healthcare facilities have a procedure to sign-in visitors who come to their facility. It is a good security practice to document visitors so you know now, and months later, who was in your facility, for what purpose, and for how long. Visitor management protocols should be reviewed every few months to make sure they are accomplishing the goals they were intended for. Visitor management security tools are always evolving with new functionality. A tool that didn’t seem to fit a few months ago, might now be the perfect visitor management instrument for your facility.

A review of a facility’s visitor management protocols should be a set of questions that security personnel ask themselves. According to Silvia Consultants, an independent security consulting firm in Seattle, here are some questions that security professionals should ask themselves a few times per year…

• Just who at your facility can authorize a visitor to be on the premises? Can any employee sponsor a visitor, or must the visitor be sponsored by a supervisor or manager?
• During what hours can a visitor be brought on the premises? Is it OK for an employee to bring a visitor into the facility after-hours or on the weekends?
• Must visitors be escorted at all times by an employee? Which types of visitors are to be allowed unescorted access?
• Are there areas in the facility where visitors are not allowed? If so, where are these areas?
• Do visitors need to be issued safety equipment or to receive any special type of safety training?
• Are there any age restrictions on visitors? Can an employee bring his or her children into the facility as visitors?
• Are packages carried by visitors, including briefcases and purses, subject to inspection as the visitor enters or leaves the premises?

For the full article, including suggestions for effective visitor control procedures, click here. The above list contains just a snapshot of the possible questions security managers should ask themselves on a regular basis. If their current answers are different than they were a few months ago, then it may be time to look for a new visitor management solution.

Can you think of other important questions that security personnel should ask themselves on a regular basis? If so, please add them to the “Comments” section below.

Related topic: How administrators can reinforce school safety & security

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Posted on 5/20/2015