How Key Control Reduces Employee Risk in Prisons

With prisons struggling with overcrowding, it may seem reasonable to hire more correctional officers to help maintain the security of your facility. However, due to the stressful and demanding nature of the position, hiring new officers may not solve your security problems. In fact, as a result of understaffing, new employees are less likely to be vetted and trained properly, which can result in human error, unsafe work conditions and even corrupt behavior.

Correctional officers are responsible for controlling facility keys, equipment and weapons, making it crucial that they be held accountable. If these items are lost, misplaced or stolen due to a negligent or stressed-out worker, it could be disastrous for your facility. Consider the case of an Australian prison that saw a prisoner steal a set of unattended keys from a staff area as he was being released. The keys were not discovered missing until the next day and required 28 locks to be changed.

One why to help reduce employee risk in your prison is by investing in a secure method for managing your keys. An electronic key control system can create an automatic record of keys checked out by employees, in addition to alerting an administrator by text message or email when keys are not returned. This promotes accountability among your employees while also keeping you informed of the status of your prison’s keys.

As prisons require a higher level of security than most organizations, limiting key access to approved users should be a priority. A key control system that provides total lockdown security can lock keys in place to prevent users from taking keys they shouldn’t. Limiting access to keys can also help cut down on employees handling more keys than necessary, which in turn can help prevent lost or stolen keys.

Are you confident your prison keys aren't being misused?