Keyholding Services – What’s Involved?

Let’s talk about professional keyholding services as it is often an overlooked part of your overall security measures. – Why take the risk? If you’re already a keyholder, you will understand that your role within a business is crucial and should always be taken seriously. Particularly those within the retail industry or contruction sector will appreciate the importance of keyholding and the responsibilities entailed. There are many areas to keyholding services and alarm response.

According to the Association of Chief Police Officers over 90% of Intruder Alarm activations in the UK are false, but every alarm call is potentially a dangerous situation, by using a professional company to respond will eliminate the need for you or your Staff having to.

One version of a keyholder is an employee taking on additional responsibilities to their current role in order to help operate a business, for instance this is often the case in a lot of retail businesses. However, an increasing amount of businesses are now seeking external help and are quickly realising the increasing benefits of doing so. Keyholding is about ensuring you always remain professional, responsible and trustworthy. Below we have examples of the type of responsibilities a keyholder takes on within the role.

You must obtain a key holding licence from the Security Industry Authority (SIA) if you work or supply operatives under a contract for services, when keeping custody of, or controlling access to, any key or similar device for operating (whether mechanically, electronically or otherwise) any lock. Our core security business is keyholding services, Intruder/Fire/CCTV alarm response, and mobile security patrols includingthe opening and closing of businesses premises, constructions sites, schools and other retail units, etc.

So… what’s involved with keyholding services?

Opening and Closing of Your Business Premises

Of the main responsibilities keyholding involves is opening and closing the business or, locking and unlocking the property. Upon opening up the premises, the keyholder should inspect the property, deactivate the security system and switch on lights. When closing the property, it is the key holders responsibility to do the same process in reverse, activating the security system and ensuring the premises is secure and locked. If your premises are sufficiently protected by an intruder alarm system, Viper Security can save you and your employees the risk and inconvenience of being called out when an alarm goes off. We operate dedicated keyholding services and a professional alarm response service designed to deliver peace of mind and minimise the risk to you and your employees of attending such activations. Responding to out of hours alarm activations is not only inconvenient, it is potentially dangerous.

Emergency Contact and Alarm Response

As they have the ability to reset the alarm system, keyholders are often entrusted to be an emergency contact for the local police or a private security like Viper Security firm that monitors the property.  This must be taken into consideration when selecting the right person for a keyholding position. They must be available, responsible and practical. We would always suggest a professional keyholding service coupled with alarm response to truly maximise your security and response times, after all, it could one day be a matter of life or death or the safety of your business stock or premises.

Traditionally, some organisations have delegated the task of key holding to one of their colleagues, but this raises serious issues.

• Is reasonable to ask employees to respond to alarm activations late at night or at the weekend?
• Is acting as a key holder part of their contract?
• Have they been trained to a level which will allow them to safely and efficiently deal with the alarm problem?
• Have you shown, as an employer, that everything has been done to protect your employee in these circumstances?

Protecting the Keys While in Their Care

Keyholding, naturally, will involve the protection of the keys 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They will also need to know the security code(s) for the alarm(s) and it’s important that the keyholder keeps this information in the same place as the keys. Generally with keyholder services, if you were to hire an external security company like Viper Security to take on the keyholding role, you can be assured that protecting the keys would be dealt with in a professional and secure way at all times. We work closely with our client to ensure a full understanding of their requirements, offering our advice along the process to further enhance their security solution. Keyholding services should not just be dismissed as an added cost to your business, for an often perceived simple task keyholding can often be a preventative measure that pays unseen dividens for years after you begin using it, as we have detailed throughout this post it doesnt just mean opening up and closing of a site or shop, it goes much deeper than that.

Leadership and Responsibility

When employing a keyholder within the company, most of the retail employees entrusted with keys are often high-ranking sales associates. This means they perform standard duties involving setting employee schedules, restocking merchandise, customer service, placing product orders and maintaining a clean and orderly retail space. This is why many opt for private security firm hire, as it eliminates the worry of having to find and employ the right individual for the role. When sourcing an external keyholding service, you can be reassured that they will be experienced, professional and trustworthy.

The Viper Security keyholding service can not only eliminate the inconvenience of false alarm activations but also assist you in exercising your duty of care to your employees by removing the physical risk they may face as the result of genuine activation. In accordance with BS7984 requirements.

With this unique keyholding service you can be guaranteed that our authorized security personnel will ensure a reliable service, quickly reacting to any alarm or call to guarantee the total security of your premises and instantly alarming the police if there are any indications of criminal movement or activity.