At GBSG we’ve recently experienced a sharp increase in the number of companies that are requesting information on our keyholding services.
As a consequence, I thought it would be useful to use this blog to clarify the process of keyholding, what it actually involves and why it might be of benefit.
Keyholding is a service which many professional security providers offer and involves responding to intruder or fire alarm activations on behalf of an organisation. The most common request is for keyholding services outside of office hours.
First and foremost, keyholding removes the risk of employer liability as it eradicates the scenario of an employee who responds to an out-of-hours intruder alarm activation entering a potentially dangerous situation. The “it’ll never happen to me” philosophy is being challenged by responsible business owners and managers as they seek to show duty of care towards their staff. Not only is it the right thing to do with regards to ensuring the safety of team members, it also limits business risk because if something happened to an employee whilst responding to an out-of-hours alarm it would be the business owner or manager who would be liable. With GBSG keyholding services this potential liability is removed, as we would respond on your behalf. We only send fully trained and SIA licensed security officers to attend alarm activations.
Keyholding services also remove the need to organise staff rotas so that a team member is always on call outside of working hours. Not only can this be a difficult task especially in small team, but it can prove to be an expensive solution if businesses are awarding a higher rate of pay for being on call. The GBSG keyholding service can help save businesses both time and money as the need for ‘on-call’ staff members is removed and the service itself costs just £1 per day (we only charge by the hour when we respond to an actual alarm activation).
All providers of keyholding services should work in accordance to BS 7984:2008, the Code of Practice for keyholding and response services. At GBSG we only offer fully controlled key management in accordance to BS 7984, plus our customers are safe in the knowledge that they are working with a fully accredited company – we have an NSI Gold Standard certification.
In essence, responsible business owners and managers are seeking keyholding services for peace of mind and as a way to reduce employer liability. I predict that this growth is set to continue as businesses seek to better control cost and risk.
For more information on GBSG keyholding services click here.
