5 Layers of Physical Security for Your Mechanic Shop

As a mechanic, you operate a small and vibrant business often entrusted with client assets worth thousands of dollars - or more. Is your shop up to the task of managing modern security for your client's vehicles as well as protecting itself and its employees from other dangers? If you're not using layers of access control, it probably isn't.

To help you design the best access control plan, here are a few layers of protection and ways to achieve them. 

The First Layer: The Perimeter

Good security is first and foremost about deterrence. It's better to keep someone out than to have to figure out who got inside. This is why you look at the perimeter of your property first. The fence should be of good quality and kept in good condition to make leaving with vehicles difficult. Gates are usually either a key lock or a coded access-control system.

The primary goal of access control here is to alert and respond to activity outside normal operations and hours. After all, you or your employees arrive at a standard time and leave within a range of time. Identifying every person who opens a gate may not be the best use of your money, so it is better to limit who can open the gate. Regularly schedule rekeying or changing of codes to maintain tight security. 

The Second Layer: Exterior and Bay Doors

If someone gets past your first layer, they then encounter the exterior doors of your building. This is a risk point in any business, but it can be doubly so for a mechanic due to the immediate presence of vehicles and high-value equipment that thieves can easily access.

Don't skimp on security for your bay doors. Multiple types of security - including physical barriers, alarms, motion detectors, and lighting - aren't overkill, but prudence. 

The Third Layer: Office and Shop

Does your shop, like many, include one or more offices attached to the repair bay itself? If so, this is a good place to add another layer of security. Outside of business hours, no one should be able to just walk between the two work areas. You may also want to include one-sided access control for the daytime that prevents customers from wandering into the dangerous repair bay unattended. 

The Fourth Layer: Interior Offices

Many small businesses struggle with adding security inside the office and work areas of their building. It seems inconvenient, disingenuous, or undemocratic to make obstacles between coworkers in such a small company. However, keep in mind that you are not only protecting company information and money: you also have to protect your customers' data and valuable objects. 

Interior door access control should be an option at all times. Those who work in bookkeeping offices, management offices, and rooms with cash should be able to lock access to these places easily and quickly. Interior offices also serve as a refuge should there be violence in the area, so consider additional lockdown options. 

The Fifth Layer: Safes, Cabinets, and Drawers

Finally, you reach the most interior layer of security: specific cabinets, safes, lockboxes, and drawers. Most retail and service businesses have a safe of some kind, but this should not be so small that it could be easily moved. Hiding a safe in an auto shop probably isn't worth the effort, as it makes it obvious where any cash would be held. 

What storage spaces should you lock? This depends on your business, but the most common items are customer-records cabinets, owners' desks, cash drawers, mobile-device storage, and toolboxes. You may also want to give each technician or station ways to lock up their own tools. Some businesses use codes to track who gets into inventory, cages, and cabinets. 

Where to Learn More

Want to know more about properly securing your mechanic shop while allowing the right access? Start by consulting with Phoenix Access Control. Whatever the size, risk factors, and budget of your small business, we can help. Call today to make an appointment.