Business Owners: How to Include Lights in Your Security Plan
When crafting a security approach for your business, you have to think about surveillance cameras, alarms and a range of other security services, but you shouldn't overlook the advantages offered by simple lights. There are a number of ways that lights can enhance the security at your business. Here are several ideas:
Landscaping lights
Thieves tend to lurk in bushes and other landscaping features, and if there are lots of shadowy areas in your landscaping, you give thieves the ability to skulk up to your entryways undetected. To prevent this, you need to include landscape lighting as part of your security approach.
You can use lights on automatic timers or solar-powered lights that recharge during the day and then come on in the dark. Alternatively, if you have a security service, you can delegate turning on the landscaping lights to those professionals.
Motion-activated entryway lights
In addition to landscaping lights, your facility should also have lights near all of its entryways. Ideally, these should be motion-activated lights. That way, if a criminal approaches the building, he or she will be bathed in light, and because the success of a criminal relies on them being undetected, the light is likely to scare them away.
Motion-activated entryway lights can also help your employees. If they need to enter the building after hours, the light will help them do so safely. It also makes it easy for them to ensure that no nefarious characters are lurking near the doors, waiting to follow them inside.
Car park lights
When lighting up your doors and landscaping, do not forget about your car parks. Car parks can be scary areas with lots of places to hide, and you need to provide light in these areas for the protection of both your staff and your clients.
In most cases, you want overhead lighting that brightens up the car park. Alternatively, if you have a parking garage, you want lights along the walls, in the stairwells and near the elevators. Ideally, your security guard should walk through all of these areas to monitor them for suspicious activity and to ensure that the lights are still working.
Occupancy lights
Finally, you may want to use internal lights to create the appearance that someone is in the office. Thieves tend to want to get in and out undetected, and they are typically less likely to break into a building if someone is there. Occupancy lights are attached on a timer, and they go on and off strategically to make it look like a few people are in the building working late.