Impressionable Security Culture Maintenance

impressions-hand-prints

Pretty hefty title to the article.  So what does it mean?  Let first start by tearing it apart.

Impressionable and at the very least the root word Impression.  Impressionable means to be easily influenced.  Impression is often defined as or something like an effect, feeling, or image retained as a consequence or end result of an experience.

Security Culture.  So many of you may work in a corporate environment that has a dominant security culture.  That’s been created either by way of processes that needed to be followed such as your physical access privileges or by way of expectation whereby security violations socially and morally unacceptable in the group.

Maintenance.  The process of preserving something or a certain condition.  So in the context of this article, maintaining a security culture.

 

So does what does this image say to you?  (For those who don’t recognize this device its a panic station.  Push a button, summons security to your location.  Many educational institutions have the deployed across their campuses and quite often integrate them into their video surveillance systems.)

panic stationMy immediate impression is that this is not valued.  This is not needed.  Especially when the refuge container is only five feet away, this device has been given the same value and purpose. This is a very expensive yet convenient drink holder.  A convenient shelf.

So why is that?  The message about…

what this is, what it is to be used for, why it’s there, why it’s needed, it’s value

…is not clearly expressed to the entire environment.

Let me describe the environment a little more.  This particular device is situated at the front door area of a prominent university in Canada (had I posted the original daylight photo you’d probably know where this is, also goes to show you that the garbage was there when I returned many hours later).  Sure the garbage was put there by lazy individuals who were most likely if asked “in a hurry”.  But this is at the front door and the fact that it was at the front door really doesn’t matter.  So when visiting this campus this is my first impression of what the safety and security culture or attitude is.  There isn’t one, at best its not strong.  This may or may not fizz some parents dropping off their kids to go here but may have stuck in the memories of many, including the students, visitors (as I was) and even visiting emergency services personnel.

So why do we accept it?  Listen, there was an agreed need to have such a device placed in dozens and dozens of locations at this particular campus.  I know that similar locations have been tagged with graffiti, notices about parties and so on.  I don’t mean to pick on this particular educational institutions because this sort of behavior happens on corporate campuses also.

My point in this rant…if you’re going to find the need to have these devices or many other safety and security devices, there needs to be a culture of understanding as to why they need to be there, what the devices are to be used for and that the need for everyone to ensure that they are readily available, free from obstruction, and free from unwanted distraction.  It’s not just the safety and security departments job to make this happen, its the faculty’s, the student body, visitors.  Anyone who appreciates the value of what this represents.  If the buy in exists throughout out and is maintained throughout, the impressions will last a lot longer.

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