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

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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.
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1 - Initial Assessment
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).
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2 - Access Controls
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.
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3 Personnel Management
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).
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4 - Procurement Regulations
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.
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5 - Contingency Planning
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.
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6 -Security Reporting
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.
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