Tips for Buying a Secure Office Safe

As a business owner or professional, you’ll need to consider the safety of valuables and sensitive items on your premises. One of the most sensible options is to invest in a safe or security box.

If that sounds like the right choice for you, you’ll need to consider a number of factors in order to settle on the right make and model. In this article, the team at Esafes have put together a useful series of questions you should answer when looking for a secure office safe.

What Will it Contain?

You’ll first need to determine the size of your safe, and this will depend on the volume of items you’ll need it to hold.

The value of your safe’s contents will also be important, as you’ll need to check out the insurance rating of each model. This will indicate the maximum amount of cash that can be covered by an insurance company when stored inside.

If the safe is to hold non-cash items, the amount referred to in the cash rating should be multiplied by ten.

You should also think about the type of items that will be stored in your safe – for example, if you need it to hold devices containing data, you should consider purchasing a specialist data safe.

Where Will it Be Located?

Once you know the size of the safe you want, you should make sure that you have space for it. Measure the area in which you’d like it to stand as well as the width of any access points.

Your safe should always be within easy reach of the right people. You could choose to have it monitored by CCTV for extra security.

Would you like your safe to be free-standing, wall-mounted or hidden in the floor?

What Special Features Will it Need?

Consider whether you’d like your safe to be fire-resistant or flood-proof. You can also purchase security boxes that are double-reinforced, with specialist hinges and brackets.

Will you require your safe to have an emergency lock-down option, whereby nobody may have access to its contents for a predetermined length of time?

Who Will Have Access and How?

If your safe is key-operated, you may wish to distribute keys to all authorised personnel. Otherwise, you might consider having them sign their keys in and out at the beginning and end of shifts, or when required, to prevent loss.

Otherwise, you could implement coded entry, using either an electronic or mechanical keypad. This removes the need for keys – which may be lost – but you should ensure that your staff don’t share the code with unauthorised people or write it down where it might be seen.

Biometric access is one of the most secure means of entry. Unique elements of your staff members’ fingerprints will be turned into a code which will only allow that individual access. This system does not involve aspects that can be lost, forgotten or shared with the wrong people.

Once you have considered all of the above, you should have a clear specification for the type of safe you require. For further information about the home and office safes available from Esafes, browse our range or contact our specialists today on 0191 2736010 or via info@esafes.co.uk.