Precast Inc. - May/June 2008 - (Page 28) Uncle Sam’s 12 Security Tips The Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security offers the following security tips to business owners looking to shore up their facilities: 1. View the security of your office/facility in “community” setting. Develop relationships with surrounding businesses so that their “eyes and ears” become yours and vice versa. 2. Develop and maintain a good working relationship with local law enforcers through your security personnel, if you have them, or management. 3. Support local first responders with encouragement and, if possible, financial support. The fact is that local police, fire and emergency medical personnel will always be the first to respond – the first to help you. 4. Develop and test internal security and emergency response plans to include, if possible, training of a building or office response team. Make sure employees are aware of and understand the plan. 5. Prepare alternate evacuation and rally point plans and routes. 6. Review your continuity of business plan for recordkeeping and communications in the event of any disaster, natural or manmade. 7. If you have video surveillance equipment, make sure tapes are reviewed for “patterns.” 8. To the extent possible, encourage, recognize and support employees who are members of the National Guard, Reserve or local volunteer units. 9. Establish procedures for knowing your visitors and vendors. 10. Vary security patterns; change barriers without forewarning; use different doors, gates. 11. Keep employees aware and informed of what you are doing for their benefit and protection. 12. Encourage employee vigilance and thank them for putting up with any inconveniences necessary to keep them safe. want to be able to view,” he suggests, noting that the cameras themselves tend to be the least expensive aspect of the security system. “You’re better off having more than less.” Look for cameras that can be mounted outdoors and have infrared illuminators that allow them to take clear, viewable pictures during the day or night (preferably from up to 40 feet away). Of course, cameras don’t do any good if the information recorded on them can’t be accessed and viewed quickly and from a convenient location. Thanks to technological istock.com footwear. “If someone gets injured as a result, and if a liability lawsuit is filed,” Shotlander hypothesizes, “having the observation camera equipment in place could limit the precaster’s liability by proving what actually happened.” To get started, Shotlander says manufacturers need multiple cameras positioned strategically throughout their plants and yards. “Point them toward the most important areas that you 28 MAY/JUNE 2008 | PRECAST INC. advancements, manufacturers like Arrow Concrete are taking care of the task from desktops and laptops that are equipped with Internet access. Most cameras use digital video recorder (DVR) technology to store the recordings on hard drives that can be programmed to record in variable speeds (with the slowest taking up the most room, and vice versa). The DVRs are flexible in that they can also kick into higher gear when certain triggers are detected, such as irregular motions in the yard at night or on the weekend. Most importantly, the DVRs can be monitored from any computer with Internet access using a password-protected Web portal. “You can watch what’s going on, and even go back and see what happened yesterday or the day before,” says Shotlander, “from any remote location.” So how much can a precaster expect to shell out for a typical security system these days? According to Shotlander, most come in kits or “bundles” that manufacturers can set up and install themselves by running a few cables and hooking up the http://istock.com
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