7 Tips on How to Keep Your Laboratory Safe from Security Breaches

1. 7 Tips on How to Keep Your Laboratory Safe For any university, think tank or IT-based industry, laboratory research work is the most important asset. For these reasons, it pays to have adequate security measures to keep your laboratory safe from accidents, theft, security breach and other mishaps. Leading professional guard services around the Bay Area recommend the following measures to ensure lab safety and security.

2. Although the terms are used interchangeably, there is a difference between laboratory safety and laboratory security. While the former refers to protection against environmental harm, the latter pertains to access by unauthorized personnel. For lab security, you will have to develop and implement site-specific security policies. These include developing SOPs to regulate the flow of work, designing controls to prevent data loss and training your staff on all important security protocols (such as identification tags and fingerprint scanners at work). 1 - Initial Assessment

3. There may several areas in your lab where hazardous materials are stored. These materials, if unchecked, can lead to serious environmental damages and lead to hefty lawsuits. Make sure that none of these materials is left unchecked and unattended. Lock all laboratory doors when no one is present on site. Consider designing card keys and other access tools to ensure that only authorized personnel can enter. Ensure that all hazardous materials are properly classified and stored in locked freezers and storage cabinets at all times. 2 - Access Controls

4. Knowing who is authorized to enter your lab helps you identify unauthorized personnel. By creating a logbook, biometric scan or daily work management software, you can trace all lab employees at different times in the lab. Limit lab access to only authorized individuals. Request all lab members to wear their ID cards at all times at work. For advanced security options, restrict off-hours access to individuals authorized only by an on-site security officer (or request the visitors to furnish a written authority from Head of Security to visit the lab after hours). 3 – Personnel Management

5. For every lab, there should be a strict check and control over the movement of materials into, out of and within the lab. Having written procurement and material issuance documents and policies are important from both security and audit perspective. They also help in tracking the disposal of waste materials. 4 - Procurement Regulations

6. No controls can make your lab 100% secure. There will always be a security risk. For this reason, it is necessary to device an emergency plan with the lab administration, security officials and any external security experts. Review and update the emergency plan to incorporate new challenges and threats faced by your lab. 5 - Contingency Planning

7. In the event of a security breach, you should have a proper reporting procedure. This will help assist any subsequent investigations by security and regulatory agencies later on. If you intend to engage any professional guard services to keep your lab safe, security reports will help in bringing them up to speed with your SOPs on lab security. In addition, you will have to train your staff on all the necessary lab security procedures. 6 -Security Reporting

8. DESCRIPTION San Jose’s Trusted Security Guard Company. If you own or manage a business, residential community, construction site or special event planning company in San Jose, consider enhancing your security by hiring a private security guard. Give us a call today at (510) 742-8000. Address: 31790 Hayman Street Suite AHayward, CA 94544 Web: http://www.securityguardsanjose.com/