The festive season is a time for fun and relaxation – but while your staff members are away on holiday with their friends and family, is your office really safe? Here are some top tips to check off before you shut down the office at Christmas to make sure your office security is as good as it can be: 

Have you locked away all valuables in a cupboard or safe? While this may seem obvious, it’s not just laptops that you need to think about. Any desktops that contain sensitive data should also be protected and stored away from prying eyes to prevent theft. If you handle money on the premises, take extra precaution to reduce the risk of theft. If you run a small business, it may make more sense to bank all cash on the last working day, and take out the float required again on the first working day after the holidays.

It's worth considering subscribing to a Cloud service to back up your data, in case of theft or environmental disaster over the holiday break. Coming back to a flooded server will not be a good start to the New Year, but knowing your essential information is stored remotely in the Cloud will mean it is accessible regardless of weather conditions or device. Just make sure to use a strong password, and limit the knowledge of this information to a few key staff.

It might be the holidays, but make sure that you have at least two members of staff who are responsible keyholders available on each of the days the office is closed, in case of an emergency. This can be scheduled on a rota, so the same two are not on duty the whole time, but it provides a bit of extra security to deal with problems immediately should they arise. Make sure that your building management has the contact details and rota of these keyholders, so that they can respond as appropriate to any potential security breach.

Security doesn’t just revolve around preventing theft. Damage to your office can be costly to business, so take measures to prevent it from happening. Reduce the risk of damage to your office by making sure all of the unnecessary electrical points and water points are turned off while you are away for the holiday break. As well as negating the fire risk caused by overloaded power points, you’ll be saving on your energy costs, too.

If you have electronic codes to get into your office or for secure areas of your office, the holiday season is a good time to change them. All too often, offices are complacent about changing security codes. However, the more people who know them the higher the security risk overall. Changing during a time when fewer (if any) staff are around is ideal to protect your office. The same goes for any alarm codes, too.

To find out more about keeping your office safe – particularly your office technology and valuables – contact Staples Advantage today to maximise your security in time for the holiday season.

November 27th 2014 | Back to Industry Insights