10 Tips for a Robust Key Control Policy for College Campuses
College campuses all have unique layouts and settings that combine characteristic historic buildings and newly constructed sustainable buildings. Each purposeful and functional, these buildings have a variety of security needs, and hundreds to thousands of mechanical keys that need accountability.
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Losing a grandmaster key to a campus building involves expensive refitting of all locks affected and the replacement of master and submaster keys that can cost upward to a million dollars or more. Thus, it is crucial to maximize security and safety by ensuring that all campus keys are properly secured.
So how does a university manage all those keys? Key control policies and procedures are an essential foundation of a master security plan, yet key control can often be vague or inadequately defined. Let’s examine ten tips to include in a comprehensive college and university key control policy.
Tip #1
- Include a Key Control Policy in the Master Security Plan – Define the purpose and objectives, which is primarily to prevent the misuse of keys that leads to security breaches that affect the safety of the campus property and its population. Next, define the rules related to key control about proper usage, including not loaning or duplicating them, letting anyone borrow them, or taking them off the property for any reason.
Tip #2
- Implement a Key Control System -Consider an electronic key control system to manage keys if keys are currently residing on a manual pegboard or in a key box with a sign out log where anyone can potentially gain access to them for nefarious reasons. An electronic key control system tracks and accounts for all keys and identifies who is using them and provides an audit trail.
Tip #3
- Appoint Campus Key Control Administrators -Appointed key control administrators manage campus key control systems and enforce related key control policies. Select administrators who are readily available for each building and a master key administrator for overall management of the campus key control policy, such as a security or maintenance manager, or the campus lock shop manager.
Tip #4
- Define Who Needs Access to Keys and When and Why – First, arrange sub-master keys by department. Next, arrange them by staff members who need them. Then, arrange them by shift or schedule. These guidelines keep keys in the hands of campus staff members only when they need them. An electronic key control system automatically controls the keys and access, releasing them to authorized individuals only at designated times according to what has been programmed into the system.
Tip #5
- Choose Easy-to-Access Locations for the Key Control Cabinets – Colleges and Universities have multiple buildings where it is necessary to place conveniently located key control cabinets for a centralized key control system. that gathers data from multiple locations.
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Tip #6
- Color Code Key Rings – Color coding key rings for different tasks help to keep keys organized and identifiable. This saves time and streamlines processes.
Tip #7
- Train and Educate Campus Employees – Train all campus employees responsible for using the key control system. Remind them that all keys will remain on the premises and will be returned to the key control system at the end of their shifts for security and safety purposes. Provide training sessions for newly onboarded staff and be sure to remove permissions for anyone who is no longer employed at the university.
Tip #8
- Make Master Keys Available for Emergency Responders – Provide a known location for a key control cabinet that contains the master keys that first responders need to access in the event of an emergency or disaster. Share the key control plan and the locations of the special key rings on campus for first responders so they can access any part of all buildings in the event of an emergency or disaster.
Tip #9
- Manage Those Important Assets – Key control cabinets can be configured to control access to important assets with locker modules as well as keys modules. Locker modules secure data ports, laptops, mobile phones, handheld radios, panic button fobs, personal belongings and more.
Tip #10
- Conduct Key Audits Regularly – Audit reports are available at any time with an electronic key control system because every key transaction is recorded by the system’s software. Review the key control plan annually and make amendments as needed. Account for any new keys and locks that need to be added into the system that were overlooked.
Key control policies and procedures that are complete and reviewed regularly ensure that higher education campuses are optimized for security so that keys do not become lost or missing or end up in the wrong hands. Integrate an electronic key control system with other security systems for more comprehensive data between the key control system, access control system, and video surveillance system for safer and more secure college campuses.
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