Securing Your Warehouse and Distribution Center
Warehouses and distribution centres are frequently targeted by thieves, both inside and outside the company. This is because they typically contain large quantities of valuable merchandise, making them a tempting target for both professional and amateur thieves.
Risks to Security
Thieves can come from both inside and outside your company. Truck drivers and other delivery service drivers may also pose a security risk, as they are often allowed to wander freely during loading or unloading, making it easy for them to steal items. Similarly, warehouse employees may steal to supplement their income or retaliate against their employer. In some cases, dishonest employees may collude with truck drivers to steal from the company.
Steps to Secure Your Warehouse
To prevent these losses, companies must take steps to secure their warehouses and distribution centres, including installing surveillance cameras, screening employees and contractors, and implementing strict inventory controls. Here are some tips for warehouse and distribution centre security:
Separate Shipping areas from Receiving areas and use physical barriers when possible.
Fence off the shipping and receiving doors from the rest of the yard and prohibit personal vehicles from entering the area.
Do not allow employee or visitor parking near shipping and receiving doors.
Provide a driver’s lounge for truck drivers, but don’t allow them to wander through the warehouse.
Keep exterior trash and recycle containers away from the building and locked.
Position the warehouse manager’s office so that it has a direct view of the shipping and receiving bay doors.
Maintain a clear zone of at least ten feet in front of shipping and receiving doors.
Never leave valuables unattended on exterior loading docks or platforms.
Store high-value items in separate, lockable cages or rooms.
Use an electronic access control system for high-value areas and provide video surveillance.
Consider a two-man rule for entering high-value areas.
Use metal security gates or electronic door monitoring for overhead doors that must be left open for ventilation.
Limit employee entrance and exit doors, provide audible exit alarms on emergency doors, and control outgoing shipments.
Avoid storing trailers filled with merchandise in the yard when the warehouse is closed.
Establish security checkpoints at the site’s entrances and inspect outbound trucks before they leave, or have a supervisor make unannounced inspections.
If you need help in improving security at your warehouse or distribution centre, please contact us.
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