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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Preventative Measure - Gamal Newry
We inevitably become victims to the next attack, as no attack regardless of similarity is the same. Time, availability of resources, and yes the current condition of your health and wellness program will impact how you respond and your recovery efforts. This concept should be considered with regards to your companies’ security efforts, as the saying goes ‘an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure’. But before we go any further, when thinking of security I prefer to use the term ‘Loss Prevention Program’. In the first instance ‘loss prevention’ speaks to any incident or event that may cause the forfeiture of assets, and if you are a fan of my writing then you know that there are 4 types are; 1) People, 2) Property, 3) Information and 4) Reputation. The word security has been relegated to crime loss, whereas loss prevention speaks to loss resulting from; A. Human Error - negligence / intentional / accidental etc. B. Natural Disasters - hurricanes, severe weather conditions, earthquakes and tornados etc. C. Mechanical Failure – wear and tear Also program speaks to multifaceted approach to mitigate these inherent risks associated with operations. Be they internal controls, physical and electronic security, there are no ‘magic bullets’ thus the initiatives must work in unison together to accomplish the continuous task of preventing loss. With that said, what is the condition of your loss prevention program and when was the last time it received a good checkup? If the answer is never or not with in the last 6 months they perhaps you should conduct one. When doing so you must ask the following questions; 1. The nature of our business and what matters most? 2. Where / what country do you do business in? 3. What other business types operate in your immediate area? 4. What threats are we prone to because of industry? 5. Who will own the program and lead the initiatives? 6. How can we strengthen our existing systems, making them robust, resilient, efficient, and effective? 7. How much are we prepared to spend to maintain what we have in place? 8. How much are we prepared to spend to make improvements on the current program? 9. What impact will these improvements have on staff and customer relationships? 10. How often should we review / revisit the program? These are all important factors to consider and cost certainly is the major determining factor, especially because the return on investment for security infrastructure is not as tangible as other capital costs. Never the less is very important part of doing business, so the investment must be made, but reasonable and practical process need to be taken. Hence the importance of analyzing initially and on a continuing basis the proficiency and success of the loss prevention program.
Gamal
Newry
is the president of Preventative Measures, loss
prevention and asset protection training and consulting company, specializing
in policy and procedure development, business security reviews and audits, and
emergency and crisis management. Comments can be sent to PO Box N-3154 Nassau,
Bahamas, or e-mail
gnewry@gmail.com
or visit us at
www.preventativemeasures.
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How often do you go to the doctor
for a checkup? For most of us it not as often as it should be and perhaps for
even more of us it is when something is wrong and we need to fix it. Certainly
we would all agree that this is not the best approach, but none the less we do it
still the same. As we get older or body either become more prone to catching
some type of virus or we build up an immunity and strong resistance. But really
does invulnerability exist, or have we simply addressed a particular threat,
remaining open to the countless others.