The role of keyholder is an important one in any organisation. When an alarm goes off at your place of business, the keyholder is called to reset the alarm and assess the situation. Traditionally this is a role given to a member of staff, but should it be?
Here are five reasons to outsource your keyholding responsibilities:
1. Staff Safety
It is estimated that 5% of out-of-hours alarm calls result from a genuine break-in situation. If your keyholder is one of your team, you are potentially putting them in harm’s way should the intruder still be present.
Furthermore, a recent British Crime Survey (2018) reiterates the possible risk. It cites property crime as accounting for 70% of crimes committed in the UK. Of those, 22% were deemed to be violent crimes.
By delegated keyholding responsibilities to a third party, you are safeguarding your staff. You are also ensuring that any alarms are responded to by trained security professionals.
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Out of hours alarm calls
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Property Crime
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Violent Crimes
2. Corporate safety
When they are a member of staff, keyholders tend to be experienced, trusted, and valuable employees. If such a person is injured in an attack as a result of responding to an alarm call, this can impact on your business. The loss of a key member of the team will result in inefficiencies at work. That’s before you consider sick pay for their recovery period.
Also, injury in fulfilling work-related duties – even outside office hours – could leave your company liable for damages. By outsourcing this responsibility, that risk is considerably reduced.
3. Doubling up
Keyholders are usually advised to respond in pairs to alarm calls, for reasons of personal safety. In real terms, one keyholder is always going to get there first, potentially putting them at risk. Even two members of staff is not guarantee of safety. After all, there’s no telling how many people might be involved in the break-in.
With third-part keyholding services, the keyholders are already familiar with the possible risk. They can attend the property as a pair, if needs be, and are fully-trained security personnel.
4. Training
Speaking of training: are your keyholders sufficiently trained for attending alarm calls? We’re not just talking about the possibility of attack here – although that’s an important consideration. Even switching off and resetting the alarm requires a thorough and detailed knowledge of the system.
5. Team morale
By hiring security professionals to act as your company keyholders you send a clear message to your staff. That message is that you value them and their safety. This can be a great boost to employee morale as a whole. For the keyholders, even if they never face the threat of physical violence, it’s a difficult role. False alarms in the middle of the night can be infuriating and disruptive at the best of times. By outsourcing keyholder responsibilities, you’re showing that you care about their work / life balance.
If you’re a company in Greater Manchester, or across the North West, in need of keyholder services, look no further. At Marpol Security, we provide the very best in third party keyholder solutions. Call today on 08085 627 765 or email info@marpol.co.uk and let us see what we can do for you.