Care homes need areas that are staff-only and some, where only certain staff members can access them. Access control means that you can set different security authorisation levels to prevent people from accessing all areas, easily. You can even adjust levels of security for different times of the day, for instance since there is less staff on-site at night, you may need to enhance their level of access to certain areas.
The most common types of access control used in care homes are:
- Fob / Pass
- Fingerprint
- Facial
- Video Intercom
It’s also common to have a combination of more than one type of access control on certain doors, such as medicine cupboards you may have an access pass and pin code. It just gives an extra layer of security for high-risk areas.
Whatever access control systems you put in place, you need to think about different circumstances when you are looking at placement, especially with vulnerable residents. It is imperative that security measures you put in place have fail safes in place in case of an emergency. It is advised to integrate your access control with other security systems and fire alarms so that locks are disengaged in the event of an emergency.
There are some key reasons to implement substantial access control systems in your care home:
- Time and Attendance – Ensure that staff are in for their shifts and arrived on-time.
- Emergency Location Lists – In the event of an emergency such as a fire, you can pull location data from the access control system to see who is on-site and where they last entered a secure location to ensure you account for all staff in your checks.
- Protection from theft, disgruntled ex-employees or even family members entering the building.
- Protect sensitive data and medicines.
- Visitor Management when you integrate it with sign in/sign out software, you’ll be able to create visitor passes; complete with photo identification.
- Better security – If there has been a data breach or theft, you can use access control report to see who had access to reduce your list of suspects, or simply, it may enough of a deterrent that it’ll prevent someone taking the risk in the first place.
- Restrict and Track any access, so that only authorised people are allowed into certain areas/buildings.
- Immediate Verification – Access control reduces the need to verify identify for everyone because access control acts as a form of identification.
- Save Time by having a report of staff activity so you can ensure staff and any agency workers get paid for what they worked without having to worry about timesheets or using it as a method to double-check what hours they have submitted.
- More control over security because you are able to assign access on a per person basis if you wish so that not everyone has access to all areas of the business unless their roles require access. It’s easy to add or remove permission when needed.
Why is CCTV the best security solution for a Care Home?
CCTV
An IP CCTV system is best for a care home because the images can easily be stored and retrieved as well as giving you a much better quality of footage.
The IP CCTV systems we install come with the following;
- Mobile app – View, live what is occurring on your site(s) as well as using the playback feature.
- Receive Alerts – Get real-time notifications on certain events that you have specified you want to know about.
- Live streaming - See all the important activity at your business, even when you’re on the go.
- Smart Search – You are able to open a camera frame, “draw a line” around a certain area within the frame and it’ll create “events” of activity so you can easily view them. It enables quick searching for any incidents; health and safety issues, break-ins, criminal damage or even bullying. For instance, if you have a break-in and you identify the entry point, you can then select the area on the camera where the door/window is, select a time-frame and it will highlight ‘events’ which will show you when that entry point was accessed. It takes roughly 15 minutes.
- Easy cloud-based recording - Secure, 24/7 cloud recording eliminates the need for additional hardware and enables access to live and recorded video clips.
The importance of camera quality for security
You’ll likely need a combination of bullet cameras for external monitoring and dome cameras for internal monitoring (they are better aesthetically, too.)
Since you are caring for vulnerable residents, it’s imperative that camera quality is high to capture any possible incidents to a good level of detail. Health and safety is a huge focus for care homes and whilst some accidents in care homes are inevitable, some are preventable and some incidents aren’t. There is also a huge focus on the level of care that happens in care homes. There have been increase in the reporting of bad carers and it’s best to have CCTV systems in place to hopefully prevent it but if not, record evidence. To do that you need good camera resolution. For instance, if someone was harming a resident, by say, pinching them, you’ll want to have evidence of that but if the camera doesn’t give a clear picture you won’t be able to provide proof of the assault and protect your resident.
There are some key features that your cameras should have to ensure you make the best CCTV system in your care home:
- Panoramic view (no blind spots)
- Tamper detection
- Night-vision
- Thermal imaging
- Mask detection
- Fall detection
- Intrusion detection
- Auto-tracking
- Infra-red
- Object removal detection
- People counting
- ANPR vehicle recognition
- Facial detection
- Self-learning video analytics
Intruder alarms
Although it is likely you’ll have someone on-site at all time, it is still a good idea to have an intruder alarm, as you simply can’t have someone at every possible entry point and frankly, they shouldn’t be facing any possible intruders either.
Your intruder alarm should have:
- Motion detectors – detect movement within the area it can monitor
- Shock sensors – for any entry via windows
- Alarm – which alerts through sound and lights
- Panic buttons – if you are within the building and notice a break-in you can act on it
- App – ideal for keyholders who want to monitor activity but aren’t on-site 24/7.
Security barrier
We recommend a drop arm barrier for your car park, so that only authorised visitors can access your site, either automatically with integrated access passes or manually, by pressing a button. If you’d like to take your security to the next level, you can use a CCTV camera with ANPR recognition and have a pre-recorded set of vehicle number plates so that it gives them automatic entry upon arrival.
Reviewing your Care Home's Security Measures?
We can come to your care home, conduct a free audit of your security measures and give you suggestions to improve your measures.
Book a Free Security Audit, today
See Also
CCTV: How quickly should you be able to access your CCTV recordings?
Reduce Thefts by Protecting your Staff Car Park
Covert or Overt CCTV?
Guide to Choosing Business Mobiles for your Care Home
CCTV Rules for Businesses
Security Gates: Are you complying with recent legislation?
Best UCC Tools for Care Homes