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Visitor Management Best Practices

by Paul Kazlauskas

Instances of workplace violence in healthcare facilities, businesses, and schools are at all-time highs. Regardless of the type of environment you work in or the size of the organization, there is a good chance that workplace security has crossed your mind. How productive can you be at your job if the security of your facility is on your mind? To protect employees and the facilities themselves, organizations of all sizes have incorporated visitor management systems into their security strategies. The visitor management system can be as simple as a manual sign-in book to as complex as an electronic visitor management system with access control features. Here are some best practices for using visitor management systems…

It is important to determine the correct location for your visitor management system. Whether the system is electronic or manual, it should be positioned at an entrance near visitor parking or the main lobby. A security guard or a receptionist would be the people most likely to be the ones issuing the visitor badge/ID card and they should fully understand the system. Comprehensive training should be done not only for those who use the system to issue visitor badges, but for all employees as well. All employees should be aware of the company’s visitor security policies and understand why the policies are in place. If anyone is expecting a guest, it should be the employee’s responsibility to communicate to the visitor what is expected of them. Front desk personnel will also explain what is expected of the visitor upon arrival, but the employee mentioning it in advance will make for a smoother and more efficient entrance to a building.

Appointment based visits help with security because the person at the front desk is aware a visitor is expected. If an electronic visitor management system is in place, that guest can be pre-registered before arriving. Once they arrive, a visitor badge can be printed in 1 click. In addition, the use of an electronic visitor management system could allow for a photograph to be included on the visitor pass. Including a photo is a great way to further identify who a visitor is.

Having a Visitor Agreement/Limited Liability Statement on the visitor badge allows the organization the opportunity to clearly state what is expected of the visitor while on their grounds. This statement could include everything from protecting trade secrets within the facility to declaring to what extent the organization is liable for any injury while on the grounds. The organization has its bases covered if they require visitors to sign this agreement (either manually or electronically) while entering the facility.

Finally, visitors should be required to check out before they leave. It is just as important to know when a visitor leaves as when they arrive. Having visitors check out is an important aspect of knowing who is in your building at any given time, which is the main tenet of all visitor management systems. If an emergency evacuation were to occur, there would be no way to know who may still be in the facility if you don’t require your visitors to check out. In addition, all visitors should be required to return their visitor pass upon leaving the facility. This will eliminate the possibility of the visitor pass being reused the next day to gain unlawful entry. It will also prevent used visitor badges from being discarded in inappropriate places like walls of the facility or on cars in the parking lot.

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Posted on 4/22/2015