Working from home has increased immensely this year in the light of the COVID pandemic. In April during lockdown 46% of us were working from home and whilst the government encouraged workers to return to offices in August, they have had to revert to their working form home where possible guideline as the number of COVID cases begin to rise again.
Many organisations had already taken the decision to keep employees working from home until January 2021, whilst some businesses have gone further and chosen to close their offices altogether and completely revert to their workforce working remotely.
Whichever group you fall in to, it is clear that businesses and individuals need to be thinking longer term and to assess in particular the security measures they have for protecting valuable equipment and kit.
To help you think through these security issues we’ve highlighted a few different ways you can protect your valuable equipment in your home.
1. Laptops and Mobiles
Laptops and mobiles are easy to use and move around so that you can be flexible with where your workspace is, but this does also mean they are easily picked up by the wrong person and carried off.
If your laptop is top of the range or holds very valuable data on it, it might be worth thinking about a safe. The Chubb laptop safe (£119 incl. VAT from Thornhill Security) is specifically designed to store a laptop, tablet or smartphone securely. It is compact so that it can easily be concealed and it can be fixed at its base, making it difficult to be moved.
2. Expensive Computers / Other Equipment
Other specialist equipment and computers used in the design or music industry including speakers may well be too large for a laptop safe. Whilst there are much larger safes on the market to store such equipment, this may not be practical in terms of the size of the safe or having to continually dismantle and store away your items.
We would recommend considering a security measure on the door and/or windows of the room where the equipment is stored such as security grilles or a steel security door.
Window Security Grilles
If your equipment is stored in a ground-floor room, a window grille adds robust protection from intruders. The grills can be retracted when you are working in the room but pulled closed when the room is vacant.
Security Doors
If your workspace can be accessed directly by an outside door, you may wish to consider a strong steel security door to protect your kit from burglars that can all too easily force open standard doors. These doors have triple point locks that are anti-drill.
Digital Locks
Digital locks can be fitted to your home’s front door or the door of the room where your computers or equipment is housed so that only those who know the pin can enter.
3. Paperwork and Important Documents
Depending on your type of business, you may also have a fair amount of highly confidential and valuable paperwork. Given GDPR legislation as well as the value of the data to your business, this paperwork could be stored in a fire-proof filing cabinet giving you peace of mind on both these fronts. They come in varying sizes and can protect your documents for up to 2 hours.
Insurance Requirements When Working from Home
Due to the speed of which the mass switch of remote working was forced upon us, many businesses have overlooked the need for specific insurance to cover their staff when working from home.
As technology such as PCs, laptops and mobile phones may belong to the business – they are not generally covered by the employee’s home insurance, meaning a pay-out is much less likely in the event of fire or theft.
If you are a business that has employees working from home, it is important to check with your provider what level of cover you have for assets that are not kept at your business premises; many providers are also now offering specialist work from home cover to meet this new demand.
Talk Through Your Options With Our Knowledgeable Team
We hope the above has given you food for thought, and perhaps highlighted security options you didn’t know existed. But there are many more out there, and each business and individual’s needs are different.
So why not give our team a call and discuss your requirements and we can point you in the direction of the domestic security solution that is best for you.
Call our team of security experts on 0117 967 4994 or fill in our contact form.
