KEYS: Do you control them or do they control you? The safety of your facility may depend on your answer.

You may have superior quality locks in your facility, but locks alone cannot assure the safety of your property and/or the people who use it. The fact is, locks limit access only if you have control of the keys that operate them. Therefore, key control is critical.

Key control means that you know to whom every key has been issued, that all keys have been retrieved from persons who no longer are authorized to have them, that no keys are missing, and none of the keys have been duplicated. Key control can be easily lost, but without it, your facility is vulnerable to loss, damage, and personal injury to anyone who may enter.

WHY KEY CONTROL IS IMPERATIVE

Protection of the access to your facility, through the control of its keys is essential. Can you affirmatively answer these three questions to assure that you have key control?

1. Are you completely certain that you can account for every key that has been issued?
2. Have you retrieved every key from ex-employees, students, contractors, cleaning services or security personnel who have left your organization?
3. Can you GUARANTEE that no keys have been lost, stolen or duplicated? If they have, have you re-keyed your facility?

A negative answer to any of these questions could mean a major security problem. These are questions that you could be required to answer if you are involved in a lawsuit claiming negligence on your part following an incident of assault, vandalism or theft.

Expand your consciousness beyond the "If the lock works we're OK" mind set, and take advantage of the help that is available.

HOW EASILY KEY CONTROL SLIPS AWAY

Key control can be quickly lost in any number of situations.

For example, in an academic setting, school buildings often need to be accessible to many people after normal hours: students and faculty are given keys to practice rooms, meeting rooms, gyms, swimming pools and laboratories and coaches give keys to the team manager and staff. Often gymnasiums and other facilities are rented or loaned to outside organizations which require keys for access after hours.

The result is too many people acquire keys; these people have lists of other people to whom they give keys, and they have their own lists of others. Soon there's a proliferation of keys and no one individual has knowledge of them all.

There are many additional examples of how key distribution can get out of hand. In a shopping mall the maintenance supervisor may give keys to a few of his workers, and the mall manager could entrust keys to the office staff and perhaps two or three trusted store managers.

In an office building, keys are given to employees, contract cleaning crews, security personnel and maintenance workers. Then before anyone realizes it, no one is completely sure who has keys.

Another problem is that keys are duplicated and reduplicated at random, with the result that security becomes non-existent.

An unfortunate rational may develop: "Does the lock still work? Yes? Then weÕre safe." In reality the opportunity for serious incidents of assault, vandalism or theft is increased significantly.

CONSEQUENCE OF LOST KEY CONTROL

Key control does not replace standard security procedures of personnel. It is, however, an essential support measure to a security program. Your need for key control becomes clearer if you consider what may happen in your facility if you don't have it. Without key control you are, essentially, giving access to total strangers, and making it easy for them to perform criminal activity without a trace.

For instance thieves' can remove hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment from a computer room is just a few minutes. In addition to the monetary loss, your institution's computer programs can be paralyzed for an extended period.

Vandals can quickly do extensive damage in a destructive rampage with spray paint and hammers.

Unquestionably the most serious consequences are rape and murder, tragedies which occur all too frequently. These happen even to celebrities, such as singer Connie Francis and television star Bob Crane. No facility is immune. In addition to the human tragedy, assaults can result in debilitating lawsuits which are extremely difficult to defend against. Other consequences include searing publicity, a tarnished image for your facility, loss of public confidence and a resulting loss of business or enrollment.

All too often prosecuting attorneys attempt to paint a picture of negligence, claiming that the building administration disregarded the safety of the public, and the lack of key control will be an important part of the picture. Attorneys will demand to see your key control records, expect you to account for every key that has been issued, examine your procedure to retrieve unauthorized keys, and review your record of changing locks. You will be asked the aforementioned three questions, which will take on a threatening new implication.

If the facility administration can prove it has done everything in it's power to make a reasonable effort toward security and protection, including key control, it has a basis for defense. If not, it's case may be extremely difficult to defend. This is not a scenario to which an administrator wants to expose his facility.

CONFRONTING THE PROBLEM

The first step toward assuring that your facility is safe is to seriously examine your facility's key control and identify where there may be a problem. It is not always easy for a busy administrator, with a multitude of responsibilities, to concentrate on this situation, but it must be done.

Key control is an issue that can be easily, and dangerously, pushed aside in order to concentrate on other, more immediate considerations. Unfortunately, the lack of key control can lead to serious consequences when you may least expect it. And until you regain control of your facility, the threat will continue to exist and increase. Fortunately, there are solutions.

GAIN CONTROL AND KEEP IT

Let's review a few of the options which can help you to gain control and keep control of your keys, and therefore increase the safety of your facility.

Historically, with mechanical locking systems the only way to regain control of a compromised key system is to rekey the entire facility. This is both expensive and time consuming. And, unfortunately, after a facility has undergone re-keying, the system is again compromised as soon as the first unauthorized key has been duplicated.

To address this dilemma, manufacturers have developed many options to help alleviate the necessity of re-keying an entire facility.

1. Engraved Warnings.
   Often you may see the warning "Do Not Duplicate" stamped on a key. While there are laws prohibiting the duplication of these keys, they are extremely difficult to enforce. Locksmiths and retail stores routinely duplicate these keys with no questions asked.
   
   
2. Restricted Key Blanks.
   A restricted key blank is just what the name indicates, a blank key that is not available to everyone. The manufacturer of the lock or cylinder typically requires a letter of authorization to sell the blank key. However, this restriction is routinely bypassed by aftermarket key blank manufacturers who duplicate and manufacture "generic" keys with no restrictions. Locksmiths can then duplicate the keys.
   
   
3. Patented Keys.
   These offer a more reliable option for enforcement than the restricted key. If a patented key is duplicated, the manufacturer will take legal action for patent infringement, not against the key holder, but against the locksmith or the company that made the key. This is a strong deterrent against unauthorized duplication.
   
   
4. Hardwired Access Control Systems.
   These types of systems provide an excellent solution to the problem of key control; however the costs of this type of system can be prohibitive. Costs for such systems can range from $2,000 to $5,000 or more per door, once you have factored all the necessary expenses.
   
   
5. Electronic Stand-Alone Systems.
   New technologies are emerging that utilize small computer chips to lock and unlock doors. Such stand-alone systems provide the added benefit of audit trails and time functions at a fraction of the cost of hardwired systems.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The safety and security of the occupants of your facility are at risk if key control is an issue that you have not addressed. Expand your consciousness beyond the "If the lock works we're OK" mind set, and take advantage of the help that is available. Investigate the many options for key control and find the solution that best fits your individual needs. Your ultimate goal must be to gain control and keep control of your facility.

Contact your Schlage Lock Company Representative for more information on security options and key control strategies. 1-800-847-1864