|  2 min read

What does it mean to provide safety for a visitor?

What does it mean to provide safety for a visitor? Photo

Do you know who is in your building and who they are visiting? Have you shared the information they need to be safe? Do your visitors know where to go in case of an emergency?  Can you contact them?  If something happened, what would the impact be on your business? Lawsuit? Increased insurance costs? Regulatory fines? These are the questions that company hosts struggle with every day.

Companies have an obligation to ensure the safety of everyone; from guests to contractors and their own employees. Many people I talk to every day know it is important to keep visitors safe but are not aware of the full extent of their responsibility. A better understanding of premises liability is a way for businesses to really improve workplace safety. A Visitor Management System (VMS) assists with a number of the inferred responsibilities which could avoid a breach of a duty of care.

Let me highlight some areas:

  • Sitemaps – Inserting sitemaps allows companies to highlight emergency information for guests to review during the electronic sign-in process. Email the maps to ensure in the event of an emergency guests have the information readily accessible. Also, highlight areas which may be hazardous and alert them to apply care as necessary.Emergency Evacuation Map
  • Safety Orientation Videos - Showing tutorials as part of the sign-in process for visitors and contractors helps to reinforce the company’s rules and guidelines. Many organizations will ask the visitor questions after watching the video to make sure the guest retained the information.
  • Sign Legal Documents - Every location receives different types of visitors. Make sure guests, employees or contractors sign the appropriate documents. An example, it is important for contractors to sign a health and safety document and liability waiver in some cases. Simply insert documents after sitemaps or safety videos confirming the guest has reviewed and watched the content.
  • ‘Roll Call View’ - In emergency scenarios, you need to be able to instantly know who is still in your building and who is accounted for. Go through the list, mass message individuals and provide instructions to ensure they are safe (i.e. evacuate the building). You can also message a specific individual as well as the host. Learn more about improving evacuation procedures at your workplace
  • Visitor Badges - Clearly marked visitors educate employees that these people may need help in the event of an emergency. Defined evacuation policies, maps, and contacts can be printed on badge tags that stay with the visitor on a lanyard.

Choosing an integrated visitor management solution enables you to manage risk more effectively and gain insight on who is accessing your facilities. A well-structured liability plan should take advantage of the technology of a VMS. Legally protecting yourself and educating people of safety procedures is a must and has never been easier.

Ryan Da Costa, Account Executive at Sign In Enterprise  Written by Ryan Da Costa, Account Executive at Sign In Enterprise. 

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