What comes to mind when you think about building security? It is always the usual suspects of CCTV, Access control,  intruder alarms,  Gates , Barriers, panic alarms, manned guarding etc , these are all common and have become essential in the uncertain and dangerous world we live in. These are all common and form part of a multi piece jigsaw to protect your building and the people within.

But however the fact is that even with all this in place and working simultaneously as a well oiled security machine a motivated person could quite easily close a building down causing a mass evacuation and all for less than the price of a latte! And the perpetrator would be anonymous and wouldn’t need to anywhere near the building when it happens.

When a terrorist /activist is massively overwhelmed by the scale of a security operation they will then sit back and assess  the situation to try and find the weak spots,  these are areas of weakness that they can  exploit that are commonly known as soft target areas.

When thinking about building security, post rooms are generally known as soft target entry areas and the budget for security equipment for this area is generally quite low compared to other areas within the business. Generally post room security itself is quite low down on the security agenda and can be seen as a bit of an afterthought. The Postroom is generally seen as a place to sort deliveries and not part of a front end security operation.

All incoming post (including Royal Mail, and courier and hand delivered items) should be channelled through the post room and its screening systems.  It is therefore important to understand all of the routes by which post is received, and ensure that urgent items do not circumvent the system.

A basic but extremely effective level of protection can be achieved by post room staff looking out for suspicious items, or better still inspecting each item briefly. Post room staff should be well aware of the possible indicators of why a delivered item may be of concern, and the appropriate action upon discovery of any suspicious item.  The exact nature of a suspicious delivery may not be immediately obvious hence we recommend the use one of our unrivalled post room x-ray scanners to confirm any suspicions items quickly and effectively.

Jason Wakefield – Sales Director
www.toddresearch.co.uk