{"id":5227,"date":"2018-08-07T08:42:01","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T07:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citysecuritymagazine.com\/?p=5227"},"modified":"2022-05-03T16:29:22","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T15:29:22","slug":"physical-security-postroom-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citysecuritymagazine.com\/security-management\/physical-security-postroom-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Postroom security: parcel delivery risk assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top Tips: Post & Parcel Delivery Risk Assessment<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Your security risk assessment and the resulting measures put in place will include how your organisation implements postroom security. This will include the physical location and security for delivery, equipment to consider and processes and procedures for staff to follow, taking into account the size and nature of your business.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0CPNI,<\/a>\u00a0in collaboration with the British Standards Institution (BSI), have produced detailed guidance on mail screening and security: PAS 97:2015 Mail screening and security<\/a>. \u00a0Below are nine key areas to consider for effective postroom security:<\/p>\n

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    Establish a delivery policy for post and packages<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For example, some organisations do not allow personal deliveries for staff. In multi-occupancy buildings, tenants may be required to use the same suppliers for some items to reduce the number of deliveries made. You may decide to pre-screen all deliveries off site before delivering them to their destination.<\/p>\n

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      Consider the location of your delivery room<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      If possible, locate the loading bay \/ delivery room in an area away from any business-critical parts of the building such as: server rooms, gas utility inlets, air conditioning outlets \/ inlets with their own or no air conditioning. An assessment should be made to see what is around the immediate vicinity of the delivery areas and actions taken to minimise any potential blast or spread of lethal powders. However, it may not be possible to locate the delivery room this way:\u00a0 in older buildings, limited options only are available. British Standard PAS 97 discusses this further.<\/p>\n

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        Put security in place for the loading bay \/ post room<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The loading bay \/ post room should have an access control system that only allows authorised personnel to enter, where possible, backed up with CCTV to give a full audit trail of who goes where and when.<\/p>\n

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          Have a single point of entry for all deliveries<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Deliveries in most buildings are carried out through the loading bay; however, in a lot of cases the delivery of smaller items is accepted at the reception area thus circumnavigating any security checks in the loading bay area.<\/p>\n

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            Train all staff dealing with post and parcels in suspect package recognition<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            All staff who deal with post and packages should attend a recognised accredited course for the recognition of suspect packages. This training should be carried out regularly so that the staff are kept up to date with the latest devices and methodologies.<\/p>\n

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              Consider implementing a hand sort \u2013 to identify the tell-tale signs that could make a package suspicious<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Where possible, mail and parcels can initially be sorted by hand in order to identify any of the key signs for identifying a suspicious package. Whether you implement this for all deliveries will depend on a number of factors, including your risk assessment and how much mail you get: there needs to be a balance between security and business needs. The hand sort should check for one or more of these signs:<\/p>\n