Physical Safety and Security Assessments

 

"Violence in the workplace presents one of the most challenging problems an organization can face. If an organization does not have the experience or qualified resources, they should outsource violence risk assessments, security assessments, and violence training to qualified external professionals. Outsourcing this to qualified personnel can enhance the quality of organizational response and help to reduce an organization’s liability by ensuring that qualified personnel have prepared the organization for violence risk. Second only to legal counsel, a qualified security firm is the most important resource an organization will have.”

 -  ASIS International, 2023

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Thank you for your interest in the physical safety and security assessment services we provide at Threat Suppression, Incorporated. We have provided physical security assessments for a wide variety of clients, including businesses, hospitals, PK-12 schools, institutions of higher education, critical infrastructure, and military installations. We have also worked with architects to provide security consulting during the design of buildings. 

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A carefully selected, qualified, and credential vendor is essential in the physical security assessment process. Reputable vendors bring unique expertise and current knowledge of best practices, products, and industry standards. It is critical that the vendor have extensive experience, board certifications, and broad experience with safety and security. According to ASIS International, security consultants are often one of the most valuable external resources for an organization. As such, the vendor must be selected with great care.

 

Physical safety and security assessments are designed to reduce risk. However, assessments conducted by unqualified vendors will likely increase risk, may result in violation of industry compliance standards or government regulations, and likely result in significant unnecessary expenditures for security features. If a vendor has potential commercial ties, your organization may become dependent on external "advice" and devices.

 

If a crisis event occurs, the physical safety and security assessment will likely be scrutinized. If the assessment was conducted by unqualified personnel, this will reflect very poorly on the organization that failed to properly vet the vendor and will increase organizational liability. Conducting physical assessments is a very high liability endeavor. Those conducting these assessments must be experienced, highly trained, and certified.

 

To ensure that we provide the highest quality service, our consultants are board certified in the following: Certified Human Resources Manager (SHRM-CP), Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), Certified Protection Professional (CPP), Certified Threat Manager (CTM), Certified Clery Compliance Officer (CCO), and Certified OSHA General Industry Inspector. These board certifications require months of study and rigorous examination, ensuring that our personnel are highly qualified to conduct comprehensive physical security assessments. Each of these board certifications are considered gold standards in the industry.

 

To prevent any proprietary conflicts, Threat Suppression does not sell any products, endorse any products, or receive any remunerations for products. This allows our company to remain completely product-neutral and provide recommendations that will best serve our customers. Security firms that are not product-neutral are likely to recommend products that are unnecessary, costly, and require significant investment by organizations.

 

Physical security assessments help to “buy down risk.” That is, the assessments help to quantify risk, identify strengths and weaknesses, and provide recommendations for improvement. Physical security assessments by qualified firms are expensive. There is a significant time investment to conduct interviews, walk-throughs, and create a written report. Our standard cost for security assessment ranges from $0.30 to $1.50 per square foot, depending on the building use. This is a standard cost for firms of our experience and expertise. Most of our security assessments range from 100 to 300+ pages in length. The average time spent conducting a basic assessment often exceeds 120 hours.  

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Below are some of the items that we evaluate during safety and security assessments:

• CPTED 

• Wayfinding

• Traffic calming

• Vehicle intrusions measures

• Security cameras

• Access control

• Exterior and interior security features

• Mass notification

• Critical utility protection

• National fire life safety code (NFPA 101)

• OSHA compliance

• ADA compliance 

• Emergency medical equipment

 

We have a variety of payment options. Our fees can be paid hourly, daily, fixed fee, not-to-exceed fee, or by retainer. Our most widely used option is a fixed fee based on a clearly defined scope of work. Depending on the anticipated communication with the client, we can also utilize a not-to-exceed model that allows for numerous additional meetings.

 

If you would like more information on utilizing these services, please email info@ThreatSuppression.com, or call 1-800-231-9106.