Why security is a must have at work
Oct 24, 2010
THE workplace has traditionally been a dangerous place. Security in the workplace is very important for the company’s success and the safety of staff and clients.
HR INSIGHT With Paula Kyabaggu Mukama
THE workplace has traditionally been a dangerous place. Security in the workplace is very important for the company’s success and the safety of staff and clients.
It can help prevent aggression towards staff and customers, thereby ensuring a safe working environment. It can also help protect your product and income and safeguard sensitive information.
It is, therefore, not something to be overlooked. Fortunately, there are many different precautions you can take regardless of your business.
Industrialisation brought with it new and more interactive dangers to workers, for example machinery in factories and on farms.
By the 1800s, campaigns were already underway, throughout the rapidly industrialising world, to introduce safety regulation and restrictions on child labour into the public consciousness because of the rapid growth of potentially deadly machinery.
However, it was not until the mid-20th century that many of these measures got full legal and societal support in the developed world.
To this day, many parts of the developing world still do not protect their workers, including children, from even the most blatant workplace dangers.
It’s not only the machinery and type of work posed the only hazards.
Workplace violence, whether instigated by striking workers seeking collective representation or employers attempting to curtail the efforts of ‘hotheads’ and labour organisers, have frequently ignited violence in the workplace both for those involved and those who distance themselves from the strife.
Arson, sabotage, intimidation, threats, beatings and even killings have often been used by both sides of employment disputes. Add to this the mayhem by anarchists, radical political factions, competitors and, yes, guerillas and terrorists.
We tend to overlook the fact that the workplace has frequently been a very dangerous place.
If you work in an office shared by many people, it is important to keep your work area and data secure. A common security problem in the workplace is keeping important passwords written down on notepads or post-it notes.
Leaving important and confidential papers lying on your desk, especially at the end of the day when you go home, can also create a security issue.
You should always clear your desk of papers at the end of the day and secure them in a locked desk drawer or filing cabinet.
If you are not provided with a drawer or cabinet that locks, let your boss know that you’re worried about people seeing important documents and that you would like somewhere to secure them while you are away every night.
While the cost of ensuring safety at the workplace may initially be huge, it will at the same time protect your interests and your profits making it a very worthwhile investment, which you can’t put a price on.
Although most people don’t think about it, there are many opportunities for security and information breaches in the workplace.
Common practices that we don’t even think about can offer opportunities for data theft, fraud and insecurity.
We need to be on our guard!
Email: eresources@consultant.com
THE workplace has traditionally been a dangerous place. Security in the workplace is very important for the company’s success and the safety of staff and clients.
It can help prevent aggression towards staff and customers, thereby ensuring a safe working environment. It can also help protect your product and income and safeguard sensitive information.
It is, therefore, not something to be overlooked. Fortunately, there are many different precautions you can take regardless of your business.
Industrialisation brought with it new and more interactive dangers to workers, for example machinery in factories and on farms.
By the 1800s, campaigns were already underway, throughout the rapidly industrialising world, to introduce safety regulation and restrictions on child labour into the public consciousness because of the rapid growth of potentially deadly machinery.
However, it was not until the mid-20th century that many of these measures got full legal and societal support in the developed world.
To this day, many parts of the developing world still do not protect their workers, including children, from even the most blatant workplace dangers.
It’s not only the machinery and type of work posed the only hazards.
Workplace violence, whether instigated by striking workers seeking collective representation or employers attempting to curtail the efforts of ‘hotheads’ and labour organisers, have frequently ignited violence in the workplace both for those involved and those who distance themselves from the strife.
Arson, sabotage, intimidation, threats, beatings and even killings have often been used by both sides of employment disputes. Add to this the mayhem by anarchists, radical political factions, competitors and, yes, guerillas and terrorists.
We tend to overlook the fact that the workplace has frequently been a very dangerous place.
If you work in an office shared by many people, it is important to keep your work area and data secure. A common security problem in the workplace is keeping important passwords written down on notepads or post-it notes.
Leaving important and confidential papers lying on your desk, especially at the end of the day when you go home, can also create a security issue.
You should always clear your desk of papers at the end of the day and secure them in a locked desk drawer or filing cabinet.
If you are not provided with a drawer or cabinet that locks, let your boss know that you’re worried about people seeing important documents and that you would like somewhere to secure them while you are away every night.
While the cost of ensuring safety at the workplace may initially be huge, it will at the same time protect your interests and your profits making it a very worthwhile investment, which you can’t put a price on.
Although most people don’t think about it, there are many opportunities for security and information breaches in the workplace.
Common practices that we don’t even think about can offer opportunities for data theft, fraud and insecurity.
We need to be on our guard!
Email: eresources@consultant.com