Netwatch are reminding Kerry business owners to ensure their premises are safe from criminals over Christmas.
Data complied by the proactive video monitoring company has identified trends during the festive season.
The company says seven key tips are vital for businesses over the Christmas period.
These include sufficient lighting, avoid lone worker lock up, clear signage and CCTV monitoring.
Netwatch data analysed over the past number of years has identified some clear trends:
• The business sectors with the most attempted Christmas time breaches are retailers, warehouses and construction sites.
• The busiest time of the day for attempted breaches during the month of December falls between the hours of 6pm and midnight. 39% of all activity takes place during these hours.
• Saturdays and Sundays are the busiest days of the week, accounting for 34% of all attempted breaches.
To prevent break-ins and loss of stock, Netwatch offerecommends the following:
1. Ensure Your Site Perimeter has Sufficient Lighting
Lighting is your first line of defence as it ensures a clear visual of would-be intruders. A well-lit site is less attractive to thieves than one with shadows and dark spots. Sufficient lighting also makes it difficult for thieves to stake out a business. Take the time to assess the lighting around the perimeter of your site or property.
2. Avoid Lone Worker Lock-ups
It’s quite common for the last lock-up before Christmas to be left to a single person. A lone worker presents an opening for opportunistic thieves who want to gain access to your premises. The best measure to protect your staff and business is to assign two workers with the responsibility of locking up in advance of the Christmas break.
3. Know Who is Coming In and Out
Christmas can be a busy time of year for many businesses. This means an increase in deliveries and new faces coming in and out of your premises. Criminals often take advantage of this by disguising themselves as a delivery driver or site worker. The disguise is often something simple like a hi-visibility vest and clipboard, but it’s enough to gain access undetected. There are plenty of measures available to protect yourself from this type of crime.
• Install an access control system for all entry points
• Put in an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system to track license plates
• Guarding your perimeter with a proactive video monitoring system will prevent entry over fences.
4. Establish Locking Up Procedures
5. Revisit Your Security Arming Protocol
6. Deter Crime with Clear Signage
It’s not just retailers who should advertise this Christmas, if you have a security system in place let people know about it with clear signage.
7. Use a Temporary CCTV Monitoring Solution
Colin Hayes from Netwatch has this advice:
