Facilities managers face a variety of threats on a daily basis. Accidents, natural disasters and intentional acts meant to cause harm all can result in unexpected damage and injuries to employees, contractors and visitors to both private and public sites.
While threats cannot be avoided entirely, managers can take steps to minimize risk through threat and vulnerability assessments, crisis prevention and target hardening. What should you know about each of these methods for reducing the chances of adverse events at your facility?
What Is a Threat and Vulnerability Assessment?
Facility security relies on effective threat assessment — a process intended to gather and analyze information about concerning situations and individuals. Facilities managers and security personnel then may implement intervention plans to monitor or offset the adverse circumstances.
Before beginning a threat and vulnerability assessment to protect critical infrastructure security, facilities managers should define goals and objectives. Operational continuity, safety of customers and employees, and protection of critical assets may be among the stated purposes of the assessment.
The threat assessment process identifies individuals at risk of contributing to adverse events and reports the information to appropriate authorities, including law enforcement along with on-site security and management personnel. The process includes an initial assessment to gauge any immediate danger or emergency.
After assessing any short-term dangers, security personnel then conduct an investigation, gather pertinent information and assess ongoing threats. An intervention plan and continued monitoring follow.
Crisis Prevention and Target Hardening
An effective method for mitigating threats is making a target harder — or less attractive — to attack. This process, known as target hardening, can involve physically fortifying a building until it becomes essentially impenetrable.
No level of physical fortification can reduce the risk of an attack to zero. With enough ammunition and the right strategy, any site can be damaged or destroyed. However, better security reduces the risk of a breach — and the risk that a site will be chosen as a target in the first place.
Crisis prevention techniques provide security professionals with the tools to spot problematic behavior and prevent escalation before people pose serious threats. Interventions to contain tense situations before they worsen come from the fields of psychology, communication and physiology and seek to address problems at the individual level.
Contact Kontek Industries
Kontek Industries offers highly advanced counter terrorism solutions to protect people, equipment and critical infrastructure. The professionals at Kontek respond quickly and effectively to any level of threat. Offering a range of customized security complements and defensive enhancements, we assist clients in overcoming challenges in protecting both public and private sites and buildings. Our innovative security solutions include precast foundations, comprehensive testing and a variety of patented products.
Strategic partnerships play a vital role in the turnkey defensive solutions we provide for a wide range or clients. By partnering with academic institutions, testing facilities, industry leaders and others, we offer unparalleled flexibility in projects that require maximum security for protection of sensitive data and assets. To learn more about our critical infrastructure security and defense solutions, please contact Kontek Industries.
