Blog

Questions to ask when developing a visitor management policy

by Paul Kazlauskas

It is important to follow visitor management best practices and have a policy that helps to keep the facility secure, employees safe, and trade secrets confidential.
It is now common practice for schools, corporations, and healthcare facilities to have a need for policies on how to handle visitors to their facilities. Visitors to a facility increase the risk of violence, theft, and injury. Even if a visitor is at your facility for a completely valid reason, it is important to document their presence and reason for the visit. While it’s certainly not a good idea to ban all visitors to a facility over possible fears of what could happen, it is important to follow visitor management best practices and have a policy that helps to…

1) maintain security of the facility
2) keep employees safe
3) protect any trade secrets an organization may want to keep private

Visitor policies don’t have to be tremendously detailed to accomplish those goals. However, every person in charge of security at a school, corporation, or healthcare facility should ask themselves some basic questions to make sure their bases are covered.

Will the facility require a manual or electronic visitor management system to document visitor traffic?
Where will the visitor management system be located?
Will visitors be required to sign in when they arrive AND sign out when they leave?
Will you require visitors to wear a visitor badge while on the premises?
Do visitors need to provide a photo I.D. to verify who they are?
What is the process if a stranger is discovered in the facility without any documentation or evidence of being documented by security personnel?
Will visitors need to be escorted to their destination by security personnel or can they go unescorted?
Are different types of visitors documented differently (ex. vendors, contractors, parents, caregivers, etc.) or is everyone documented as a general visitor?
Are temporary employees (ex. temps, substitute teachers, hospital volunteers, etc.) treated just like other employees or like temporary contractors?
Are visitors required to divulge if they have recording devices on them? If so, does the presence of those devices automatically restrict where they can go?
Are there areas of the facility completely off-limits to visitors?
Are there times when restrictions on access should be increased? (ex. after-hours or during lockdowns)
How are former employees treated? Are they visitors or are the rules more relaxed?

What other important questions should security personnel ask themselves when developing a visitor management policy? Please include your ideas in the comments section below.

Our visitor badges “VOID” overnight to prevent reuse.
See them for yourself — request free samples!